Essex County Town May Be Pondering A Retail Marijuana Store

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — If marijuana is legalized in New Jersey, should South Orange allow a pot dispensary to open up shop in town?

On Sunday, South Orange Village President Sheena Collum announced that an unnamed “retail distributor” reached out to her in anticipation that New Jersey laws will be changed in the near future. Collum then put forth an “informal poll” to her constituents: What do you think about a recreational cannabis dispensary in South Orange?

Collum said on Facebook that she’s “currently undecided” on the issue. She gave some background on the situation:

“As you probably know, recreational marijuana is likely going to become legal in New Jersey under our new administration. The control we have at the local level will be through our zoning laws and whether we allow this to be a “permitted use” of commercial property in our town. For example, would you support or not support a retail store that sold marijuana? I’d appreciate an explanation as to why or why not? Also note that if you do support this, we can also restrict where it goes (i.e. only 2nd floor in the central business district, minimally 500 feet from any school, etc) or we can say it’s not a permitted use anywhere. The BOT could also choose to make this a non-binding ballot question to the public at large, which I’m not opposed to. Just to clarify a little more - we can’t supersede state law and say “you can’t smoke within the town”, we can control whether or not it’s legal to distribute it here in retail stores. Hope that makes sense. Perhaps a better example is we don’t permit an “adult store” or strip club anywhere in town right now.”

New Jersey Governor-Elect Phil Murphy has promised to help fast-track marijuana legalization in the state, a drastic change from Chris Christie, who has opposed the concept of legalization throughout his tenure.

State Senate President Stephen Sweeney said that his goal was to get a pot legalization measure passed within 100 days of the Murphy administration. Murphy will be sworn-in on Jan. 16, 2018.

• See related article: NJ Pot Legalization Expected Soon (What You Need To Know)
• See related article: Christie Calls N.J. Marijuana Legalization 'Stupid'

While several legislative efforts to legalize marijuana have been floated in New Jersey over the past few years, the apparent front-runner may be Sen. Nicholas Scutari's proposal, which has gained Sweeny’s support.

• See related article: NJ Senator's Marijuana Legalization Bill Would Tax, Regulate Weed

Scutari's bill would:

• Create a recreational marijuana program in New Jersey that would "provide for the licensing of marijuana cultivation, manufacturing, wholesale and retail facilities"
• Permit the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana, 16 ounces of marijuana infused product in solid form, 72 ounces in liquid form, and seven grams of "concentrate"
• Require the state to establish licensing goals for New Jersey residents and "begin accepting applications for licenses for marijuana establishments" within one year of the bill's enactment
• Prohibit growing marijuana plants at home and consumption of marijuana openly or in a public place

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