Lawsuit Seeks To Uncover Point Beach Mayor's Anti-Marijuana Role

Attorneys have filed a lawsuit against Point Pleasant Beach, hoping to obtain information that, they believe, could help determine whether Mayor Stephen Reid has used his government position to promote an anti-marijuana legalization group's agenda.

Patrick Duff, represented by CJ Griffin, claims he has filed OPRA requests with Point Pleasant Beach in order to "explore the extent to which Reid has used his government position or government resources to promote NJ RAMP’s agenda."

Responses to those OPRA requests were redacted to prevent Duff from "ascertaining the extent of the connection between Reid’s lobbyist work and his government business," according to the lawsuit.

Reid told Patch that the lawsuit originates from a group that's been showing up at council meetings to criticize his opinions on marijuana legalization, and members troll him on Facebook. "They're very harassing at times," he sad.

"This lawsuit is just frivilous. It's just silly," he said.

Reid, who is running for state Assembly and has been an outspoken critic against marijuana legalization, is the executive director of NJ RAMP, an anti-marijuana legalization lobbying group that is a client of Reid’s lobbying firm, according to the lawsuit.

Reid said he was advised by two counsels and he was told that he doesn't have a conflict of interest.

"They're trying to keep me quiet," he said. "They don't like me telling the truth."

You can read the lawsuit here.

Point Pleasant Beach photo