Cannabis Businesses Allowed In Red Bank After Council Vote

RED BANK, NJ — The Red Bank council unanimously passed an ordinance allowing for cannabis businesses to operate in town, under strict restrictions, in a meeting on Wednesday.

The move is intended to "balance the creation of jobs and economic opportunity within the Borough with public safety and the best interests of Borough residents," the ordinance reads."Only qualified operators should be permitted to safely operate strictly regulated cannabis."

Restrictions for retailers include not being able to have any cannabis plants, products or paraphernalia visible from the windows, not being able to operate outside of the timeframe of 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and having to provide a detailed security plan that has to be approved by the police department.

There are also zoning and other restrictions applied to any cannabis business, including, cultivators, delivery services, distributors, manufacturers and wholesalers.

Smoking marijuana in public spaces — including public streets, sidewalks and parking lots — will be forbidden, as will any form of underaged possession.

Underaged people in possession of an amount that may be lawfully possessed by a person of the legal age is subject to a $100 fine for a first offense, $200 for a second and $250 for a third. If the amount is over that limit or if any cannabis is consumed, the fines are $250 for a first offense and $350 for a second.

The borough will collect a 2 percent tax from cultivator, manufacturer and retailer sales and 1 percent from wholesalers.

The full ordinance can be viewed here.

Marijuana use was legalized in New Jersey last year, but state lawmakers left it up to each town to decide if they wanted to ban or limit the number of dispensaries locally.

There was a 180-day deadline on this decision, so each town must choose how to act in relation to the new state legislation by August 21. By opting in, the town is bound to this decision for five years.

One resident who spoke during the public hearing expressed concern over the establishment of businesses in the area between the hospital and Welsh Farm, because of its residential nature.

Another resident from Eatontown praised the council for the pro-cannabis move.

"I think it's very progressive and it's very appropriate for Red Bank," the resident said. "You've also shown that you are stigma-free. You want to help correct some of the wrongs. The war drug war was a miserable failure and there was a lot of suffering involved (...) I think it's great that you're steering the community to a drug peace now."

The same resident pointed out that some "inconsistencies" needed to be worked out.

"If we're gonna take a hard line against cannabis on borough property then we should definitely be consistent with alcohol as well because alcohol is more dangerous," the resident said.