Simple argument remains the best
Even though a majority of voters in Somers Point supported making recreational marijuana legal in New Jersey, and a majority of City Council supported an ordinance to allow two cannabis businesses in the community, forces working to undermine that ordinance have held the day and the foreseeable future.
The lure of a potential $400,000 in new tax revenue wasn’t enough.
Somers Point City Council deserves credit for the work put in on the issue ever since the statewide vote in 2020. While many neighboring towns such as Ocean City, Linwood and Upper Township quickly decided they would not allow cannabis businesses, Somers Point gave it truly thoughtful consideration.
There have been steadfast opponents to cannabis operations in Somers Point, both on council and in the community. Even on council, some of the support was not personal preference, but the decision to represent the will of the majority.
Council President Janice Johnston had finally gotten the ordinance together and was moving toward a vote, which looked like it was going to pass with a 5-2 margin.
The Somers Point Planning Board, however, voted 5-2 that the ordinance did not fit with the master plan. Because the city’s engineering office found it was consistent with the master plan, it looks like the board’s decision was not based on vetting the ordinance as much as finding reasons to kill it. No matter. After the planners’ vote, Johnston said she wouldn’t bring the ordinance up for consideration.
Just as cannabis businesses were on the cusp of approval, they were killed.
There were valid arguments against. Some not as solid.
The Somers Point Business Association and Somers Point-Community First both weighed in with their opposition.
One argument was problematic and one seemed hypocritical.
Part of the Somers Point Business Association rationale was that local purveyors of alcohol (restaurants and bars) would face increased liability.
They argued they could be held liable for accidents with alcohol impairment involved because while alcohol content can be measured in the body as a contributing factor, cannabis impairment cannot.
That is true, but bringing establishments that serve alcohol into the equation serves more to raise the pro-cannabis argument. For those comparing the two, alcohol has more of a long-proven history of having a deleterious effect on both the body and society as a whole than marijuana.
Another argument was that city officials would be committing an illegal act and violating their oaths of office by supporting the ordinance because cannabis remains illegal on the federal level. Given New Jersey law in favor of recreational marijuana, that seems like a stretch. There is a problem on the federal level, but that falls on the cannabis businesses — how they deal with the income from a product that remains a Schedule 1 drug on the federal level.
The best reason for opposition remains the most basic and heartfelt — that showing official support for cannabis sales in the community simply sends the wrong message. Even if the city could locate the business away from schools and residential areas, it would show their community leaders giving the green light to cannabis use, which is not something they want kids to believe.
As the Community First group said, “Somers Point is a family community, and pot stores have no place here,” it said, noting Police Chief Robert Somers’ opposition. “Our police chief has already laid out the many negative outcomes that these stores will bring, and we should heed his concerns.”
There are projections that the city could reap a small windfall from $20 million in sales via a local tax in addition to the state tax, but would that $400,000 be worth it?
Atlantic City is an argument against relying on cannabis for financial help. That city by the sea built its entire economy around a single vice — gambling. While that industry has provided thousands of jobs for people in the region and substantial revenues for the community, who could argue with a straight face that beyond the sealed-off oasis of the casinos that gambling has been a savior for the overall community?
That $400,000 may be wishful thinking anyway. A recent study showed cannabis users continue to turn to the underground market instead of the state-sanctioned stores. Why? Because legal cannabis is greatly overpriced.
Leave it to the state to find a way to create a business model that motivates buyers back to illegal sales.