ENGLISHTOWN – Although they expressed support for the benefits of medical marijuana, officials in Englishtown have voiced their opposition to the recreational use of marijuana in the borough.
The topic of marijuana was discussed by members of the Borough Council at a meeting on Oct. 24 amid the potential legalization of the drug’s recreational use in New Jersey.
The possession and distribution of marijuana for recreational purposes is illegal in the state, but Gov. Phil Murphy has said he will take action to legalize marijuana for recreational use. The issue has been debated by legislators in the state Assembly and Senate in recent months, but has not reached a conclusion.
Due to the potential legalization of marijuana for recreational use, officials in a number of municipalities have voiced opposition to the drug and taken action to prohibit it from being sold and grown in their communities.
At the Englishtown meeting, council members said they would support the use and distribution of medical marijuana under controlled circumstances, but were opposed to recreational marijuana.
“In five years, you may need [medical] cannabis,” Councilwoman Lori Cooke said. “But I don’t support the recreational use.”
“I support the use of medical marijuana, but under controlled circumstances,” Councilman Greg Wojyn said. “In other words, administering it in the doctor’s office, administering it at the hospital, taking it at your home, but recreational, I’m sorry, you’re just opening up a whole Pandora’s box.”
Council President Cecilia Robilotti and council members Maryanne Krawiec and Eric Mann agreed with Wojyn’s comments.
Acting Police Chief Peter Cooke said the legalization of marijuana for recreational uses could create a burden on police officers who are attempting to detect whether a motorist might be driving under the influence of marijuana.
Cooke said determining if a motorist is under the influence of marijuana would require the police department to have a drug recognition expert (DRE).
“To become a DRE takes several months,” he said. “The training is intense, time consuming and costly. We would have to get officers in DRE and more than just one. There is no breathalyzer test for marijuana. A DRE has to sit with the person for an hour, in the dark, in the light, and get a urine sample.
“We make a lot of arrests for people being in possession of marijuana, but there’s no easy way to determine if they are driving under the influence,” Cooke said.
When asked by council members, Cooke said an individual could refuse to provide a urine sample unless a search warrant was produced.
Mann said cancer patients, particularly individuals who are dying from the disease, deserve access to medical marijuana, but he was concerned with what he described as the ease with which other individuals could acquire prescriptions for the drug.
Mayor Thomas Reynolds concurred with the councilman’s assessment.
“The control is not there,” Reynolds said. “That’s the whole problem.”
