Participants in a forum last week suggested tourism-related businesses may want to consider adding cannabis-related activities.
Can you picture that in Ocean City?
The Cannabis and Hemp Research Institute at Stockton University and the Greater Atlantic City Chamber of Commerce heard that general suggestion during a March 15 panel discussion.
The upshot is that now-legal recreational marijuana can have a significant impact on existing businesses.
We understand why that may be true for places such as Atlantic City. It’s an adult playground based on one of America’s favorite legal vices – gambling. Adding marijuana to the mix doesn’t seem like it could have any more detrimental impact on our neighbor to the north. Maybe it could even help.
If smoking tobacco products is banned in the casinos, that may give visitors reason to go to other places in the city for their weed-related activities.
Given how casinos do everything they can to lock down their customers, which is why so many of Atlantic City’s neighborhoods have never benefited from legal gambling, perhaps marijuana could be the key to spreading the wealth.
Or not.
In resorts like Ocean City, we can’t imagine promoting cannabis along with all the family-friendly events.
Marijuana-infused taffy sculpting or pie-eating?
Nope.
The Baby Parade and DooDah Parade on edibles?
Don’t think so.
Mummers Night on the boardwalk in a cloud of smoke?
No way.
We strongly suspect more people will want to come to America’s Greatest Family Resort to get away from all that.
It was not the slightest surprise when Ocean City, like many other neighboring communities in Cape May and Atlantic counties, voted against allowing cannabis businesses.
Simply put, they go against brand.
Even towns far less reliant on tourism didn’t support them, believing the potential tax dollars didn’t outweigh the message sent condoning cannabis consumption.
The reality is that cannabis products will be consumed in the resort. Just like the fact this is a wet dry town, that can’t be avoided.
Aside from continuing to promote the family-friendly nature of the resort, the only other thing we’d like to see promoted related to cannabis is amending the laws that came with legalization that have tied police officers’ hands, especially with underage users.
That would be a bigger benefit to this resort.