An ordinance was introduced by the Brick Township Council with a total of 5 "yes" votes and one abstention to ban the sale of recreational marijuana. There will be a public hearing on March 12th.

Stephen Reid, the mayor of Point Pleasant Beach and executive director of an organization that opposes recreational marijuana legalization, said "I commend all of you for putting your children and residents first".

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A number of residents came forward to talk about the positive impact medicinal marijuana has had, helping them break an opiod addiction or soothe chronic pain.

The ruling brought out a strong reaction on both sides.

Look, I grew up in Brick, so I'm well aware of the above punchline about the adult store being across the street from a preschool. I went to Brick Memorial, which went through a phase of being nicknamed "Heroin High" (I'm not sure if that nickname has stuck around or what). I am well aware of Ocean County's notoriety when it comes to heroin addiction and ODs. The hand-wringing over the dangers of marijuana just reeks of 1950s paranoia and propaganda.

One of the opponents at the meeting was worried marijuana being used to incapacitate women and put them at risk of sexual assault. If that's your biggest concern, why aren't you leading a charge to shut down all the liquor stores in Brick? Or just bringing back Prohibition entirely?

It always seems like this is an issue that is hard, if not impossible, to change someone's opinion on. If some guy with dreads wants marijuana legalized, no soccer mom is going to convince him that it's dangerous. If some busy-body is worried about the children, no Navy veteran will be able to change her mind either.

We'll be keeping an eye on that public meeting on March 12th, and keep you updated with any information that comes in.

UPDATE:

The hearing on the ordinance began at 9:30pm, and it was nearly midnight before the votes were actually cast. The end result? A ban on marijuana sales in Brick. Despite the measures by the state legislature to advance legalization, the town council unanimously decided no marijuana would be sold in Brick.

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