A bill reducing county restrictions on marijuana stores and grow operations passed both houses on party-line voters.
Senate Bill 75 came after Sussex County came up with zoning that sharply limited the placement of recreational marijuana operations even though the county has a medical marijuana store at its complex of outlet centers off Coastal Highway.
The bill will not affect municipalities. Many have banned or sharply limited recreational marijuana operations.
Republican legislators attacked the bill, citing a loss of local control over zoning. Backers claimed that legislation in the past has addressed overreach by counties.
House Majority Whip Ed Osienski, D-Newark, issued the following statement following the passage. Osienski championed the long-running effort to legalize recreational marijuana.
"Unfortunately, our counties have imposed zoning restrictions so severe that they undermine the law's intent and effectively ban legal cannabis operations completely. SB 75 addresses this by setting reasonable limits on county regulations. I want to be clear that this bill will not cause communities to be flooded with cannabis shops – there are only 30 retail licenses total. To put that in perspective, we have more than 300 liquor stores across the state."
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.