Recreational Marijuana Businesses Considered In Gloucester Twp.

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ — Gloucester Township Council is considering whether recreational marijuana dispensaries should be allowed in the township, and at least one resident is warning against it.

“I’ve come across many children that are extremely stressed about the circumstances that they’re under due to the fact that their parents are substance abuse victims,” resident Leslie Soto Munoz said during Monday night’s council meeting. “They are on all kinds of different drugs, but mainly stating that marijuana was the drug that springboarded them into other drugs.”

Her comments came after Gloucester Township Council unanimously approved a proposed ordinance on introduction to permit dispensaries in the municipality.

After New Jersey voters approved the use of recreational marijuana through a referendum in November, municipalities statewide were given until Aug. 22 to make a decision.

Each municipality has three options. They can prohibit the sale of cannabis in their municipalities, lifting that prohibition at any time. They can allow the sale of cannabis, but it has to be permitted for at least five years. Or, they can do nothing, and lose all control over the regulation of the sale of cannabis in their townships.

Gloucester Township’s strategy is to allow it, so it can have jurisdiction over how it is handled locally. Read more here: Gloucester Township Bans Use Of Recreational Marijuana In Public

But Munoz said she would like to see the township ban it altogether. She said she began teaching pre-school children who have been placed in the Division of Child Protection and Permanency at her church during the coronavirus pandemic. She works with children whose parents are in rehab.

“They’re trying to get themselves better, so they can be reunited with their children,” Munoz said. “I could sit here all day and talk to you about the damage, mental damage and emotional damage, to these kids.”

Munoz said her father had substance abuse problems, and it took him years to get clean. She said making recreational marijuana more readily available in the township could do great damage to the community.

“We cannot take it lightly and assume that it will not affect our children, our grandchildren all the people that live in this community,” Munoz said.

Gloucester Township Police Chief David Harkins said he also has his concerns, but the township doesn’t have much choice. Even if the township bans state-licensed recreational marijuana businesses, it can still be delivered into the township without approval from the local governing body.

“We’ve tried to make it as restrictive as allowable,” said Harkins, who said the police department worked on the ordinance with the township administration. “We’re bound by what the state will do. The state’s going to dictate what happens, and we don’t even know what’s going to come to us. I don’t want it at all, but we have to work together to address all these concerns.”

One concern is the odor.

“We put restrictions in the proposed ordinance about air filtration,” Harkins said. “Bellmawr has a cultivation facility right near the state police, and you can smell that, and it’s in an industrial park, and we were concerned even about that.

“When the people vote 7,000 to 2,000, I feel obligated to do something,” said Gloucester Township Councilman Dan Hutchison, who said he also couldn’t stand the odor.

They've also discussed new ideas and concepts for teaching about marijuana in schools, including why it was previously illegal, Harkins said. There was no education program in schools, now known as "L.E.A.D." last year because of the pandemic, Harkins said. They're looking at ways to bring it back this year and get ahead of the issue early.

The state's cannabis commission won't issue regulations concerning recreational marijuana until Aug. 21. With municipalities having until Aug. 22 to make a decision, they have to make a decision before they know what the regulations will be.

The state has established six types of licenses:

• Class 1: Cannabis Cultivator license, for facilities involved in growing and cultivating cannabis;
• Class 2: Cannabis Manufacturer license, for facilities involved m the manufacturing, preparation, and packaging of cannabis items;
• Class 3: Cannabis Wholesaler license, for facilities involved in obtaining and selling cannabis items for later resale by other licensees;
• Class 4: Cannabis Distributor license, for businesses involved in transporting cannabis plants in bulk from one licensed cultivator to another licensed cultivator, or cannabis items in bulk from any type of licensed cannabis business to another;
• Class 5: Cannabis Retailer license for locations at which cannabis items and related supplies are sold to consumers; and
• Class 6: Cannabis Delivery license, for businesses providing courier services for consumer purchases that are fulfilled by a licensed cannabis retailer in order to make deliveries of the purchased items to a consumer. It also includes services that would include the ability of a consumer to make a purchase directly through the cannabis delivery service which would be presented by the delivery service for fulfillment by a retailer and then delivered to a consumer.

Want to win Six Flags Great Adventure Season Passes? Here's how.

The proposal introduced Monday night sets forth what type of businesses would be permitted in particular sections of the township. According to the proposal posted on the township's website, Class 5 licenses would be permitted as a conditional use in the:

• Highway Commercial Zone;
• Commercial Residential Zone;
• Neighborhood Commercial Zone;
• New Vision Business Park District; and
• Blackwood West Redevelopment Zone.

Class 5 license holders would be allowed to operate as a permitted use in the Villages of Gloucester Township Rehabilitation District.

Class 1 and Class 2 license holders would be permitted as a conditional use in the General Industry Zone.

Marijuana wholesalers and distributors using Class 3 or Class 4 licenses may operate under certain conditions in the township.

Licensed Laboratory Testing Facilities would be allowed as a permitted use in the Business Park Zone and the New Vision Business Park District.

Vertically Integrated Alternative Treatment Centers and Co-Located Operations would be allowed as a permitted use in the New Vision Business Park District.

The proposal also sets forth licensing procedures and fees, and prohibits public consumption.

Anyone holding a Class 1, 2, or 5 license will be subject to a 2 percent municipal transfer tax on the lawful sale of marijuana, and those with a Class 3 license will be subject to a 1 percent tax.

Gloucester Township Council approved the proposal on introduction with a 6-0 vote. The public hearing and final vote is set for Aug. 9.

The full text of the proposed ordinance, as well as the full agenda, can be viewed at glotwp.com.