Bridgewater Marijuana Ban Would Be 'Null And Void' Under NJ Bill

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — A Bridgewater Township law banning retail marijuana businesses could be overturned if the bill pending in the state Legislature is signed into law by Gov. Phil Murphy.

The ban prohibits the ban the sale, cultivation, manufacturing and testing of recreational marijuana within the township. However, this ordinance can not stop residents from using marijuana if the state legalizes it.

Bridgewater approved the ban in September 2018. (See Related: Bridgewater Bans Sale, Growth Of Recreational Marijuana)

Senate Bill 2703 (and its companion, Assembly Bill 4497) includes a provision that would make "null and void" any ordinances that have been passed in towns across the state to ban the sales of marijuana.

"... any ordinance enacted by a local governmental entity prior to the effective date of this section addressing the issue of prohibiting one or more types of cannabis-related activities within the jurisdiction of the local governmental entity is null and void," the bill says.

Any municipality that wants to ban sales, facilities, growing operations or manufacture of marijuana products — for either adult recreational use or for medicinal purposes — would have 180 days following the enactment of the pending bill to legalize recreational marijuana use by adults to enact an ordinance banning the facilities, if they still sought to do that. Hillsdale is one of 50 towns that have banned retail sales ahead of the proposed marijuana legalization.

If the current legislation is passed and signed into law, marijuana use for adults 21 and older becomes legal throughout the state, and municipalities who wish to ban it will have to "opt out."

For the towns that have bans already in place, they will be forced to adopt them again — which comes with expense of the legal advertisements, the public hearings and the conflicts that have marked the debates in many towns.

Legislative committees in both the New Jersey Senate and the Assembly approved a bill this week that would legalize recreational marijuana for adults 21 and older in New Jersey. The bill now heads to the full Senate and Assembly, which would each need to approve it before the bill could land on Gov. Phil Murphy's desk for his signature. (Read more: NJ Recreational Pot Bill Approved By Committees; Final Vote Soon)

With reporting by Tom Davis and Karen Wall, Patch staff

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