Marijuana, Youth Board On South Brunswick Council Agenda Tuesday

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — The South Brunswick Town Council will be meeting Tuesday evening, and among the items up for discussion are the marijuana ban ordinance, affordable housing, and the establishment of a youth advisory board.

There will be a second reading and public hearing on the ordinance to opt-out of marijuana businesses. This will be followed by a final vote.

Ordinance 11873 prohibits all cannabis business operations in South Brunswick. The ordinance bans farming, development, and sale of marijuana. Only cannabis testing facilities are permitted to operate in town.

The ordinance currently does not prohibit the delivery of cannabis to residents from services based outside South Brunswick.

The ordinance also makes it unlawful for anyone "under the legal age to purchase or consume cannabis items, to consume cannabis items, other than by smoking, vaping or aerosolizing, in or on any private property." These restrictions, however, do not apply to medical marijuana users.

The council earlier decided to "opt-out" of marijuana operations as it wants to adopt a wait-and-watch approach regarding new regulations introduced by the Cannabis Regulatory Commission.

The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission is expected to roll out its rules and regulations governing the marijuana industry in August.

At a meeting held in June Deputy Mayor Joe Camarota said the council had "no other choice but to opt-out as we talked about, except for the testing, and then wait to see what happens on 8/22. Then we can go back and modify and change..."

The ordinance is expected to pass at Tuesday’s meeting.

Also up for first reading is Ordinance 2021-29 - amending and supplementing the Township code with the creation of a Youth Advisory Board.

During the June 8 council meeting, student Kaushik Rathuryan presented a plan for the formation of a Youth Advisory Board. According to the plan, eight high schoolers will meet once a month to discuss issues affecting youth in the township. They will focus on substance abuse, mental health, bullying, etc.

Committee members were expected to be elected in early September and the Board was to be initiated between late September to early October, according to the initial plan. The first reading of the ordinance will provide a clearer timeline.

The township has also scheduled a budget meeting to be held along with the council meeting on Tuesday.

The meeting will be held virtually at 5 p.m. You can join the meeting by clicking here.

The meeting is open to the public and those wishing to speak during the public portion must register by noon on Tuesday at this link: https://sobrunswick.seamlessdocs.com/f/CouncilPublicPortionRegistration

For questions regarding access, email bnyitrai@sbtnj.net ahead of the meeting.

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