How Toms River Voted On NJ's Marijuana Question

TOMS RIVER, NJ — In early 2019, the Toms River Township Council was considering an ordinance banning the retail sale of recreational marijuana in the township.

The discussion came as the state legislature was weighing a plan to legalize recreational marijuana use by adults 21 and over. The legislature ultimately decided to let voters weigh in on the matter, and on Tuesday, voters across New Jersey voted by a 2-to-1 margin to approve amending the New Jersey Constitution to legalize recreational marijuana use by adults 21 and older.

Unofficial tallies as of Thursday afternoon show 1,836,058 New Jersey voters — more than 66 percent — said yes to legalizing recreational marijuana use, with 912,387 voting no, according to the Associated Press. Read more: NJ Legalizes Recreational Marijuana, AP Says

The Toms River council ultimately tabled the ordinance proposing the ban at a packed council meeting where many speakers urged the council members to reconsider, with the agreement that it could be revisited in the future if the state legalized recreational use.

That might go against the feelings of Toms River voters, however, who supported the amendment at similar levels to the statewide vote.

The Ocean County Board of Elections reports 158,953 yes votes cast countywide out of 268,470 responses to the question, or more than 59 percent. There have been 109,517 no votes tallied so far in Ocean County, according to those unofficial counts.

In Toms River, 25,846 voters so far voted yes on the question, 62.66 percent of the mail-in ballots counted in Toms River so far. There have been 15,403 no votes out of the 41,249 votes in Toms River on the marijuana legalization question.

Support was similar in neighboring towns. In Beachwood, there have been 3,050 yes votes and 1,367 no votes. In Pine Beach, 714 voters said yes and 377 said no. South Toms River has 917 yes votes so far — 75.85 percent of the 1,209 ballots cast — and 292 no votes. The tallies in Seaside Heights are 496 yes votes and 225 no votes, and in Seaside Park it's 543 yes votes and 343 no votes.

The amendment legalizing recreational marijuana use by adults takes effect on Jan. 1, 2021. But state lawmakers and the Cannabis Regulatory Commission need to hammer out the finer points, such as how much marijuana people could legally possess and whether people will be allowed to grow cannabis at home.

Many experts estimate it would likely take at least a year and possibly longer before the first legal pot in New Jersey would be sold.

The approval of the question does not mean it's legal yet to use marijuana recreationally.

Here's what Attorney General Gurbir Grewal had to say on Wednesday:

"All of the state's criminal laws relating to marijuana continue to apply, until, among other things, the Legislature enacts a law creating that regulatory framework. It is important that residents accurately understand the current situation, so they do not inadvertently engage in criminal conduct relating to marijuana — conduct that may be legal in the future once the Legislature acts, but is not presently legal based on yesterday's vote. While my office will soon issue additional guidance for law enforcement and prosecutors to address this situation, we have reminded them of the broad discretion they already possess in handling low-level marijuana offenses."

Medical marijuana patients remain the only people who can legally smoke cannabis in New Jersey at this time. Read more: NJ Voters Legalize Marijuana; Can You Be Arrested For Smoking?

With reporting by Eric Kiefer

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