Yes, a weed store can open in your neighborhood (Opinion)

There are towns where folks believe it could never happen to them. That there is no way that a marijuana store or as they like to call it, a “dispensary” could end up in their community.

But that was before. Before marijuana was voted on by the people of New Jersey, there were municipalities that had already made it clear that they did not want anything to do with weed selling in their towns. That all changed with the new law that would enable the legal marijuana voters approved. According to an article by Dino Flammia here on NJ1015.com, this new law makes any previous ordinance null and void. So what is going to happen now? What will determine whether your town has a weed store or not?

Well, that, like a lot of the details of the new law is yet to be determined.

And while the legislature understands that there are municipalities that are going to want to prohibit the sale of marijuana in their towns, they have to decide whether it’s going to be an “opt-in” or an “opt-out” measure, especially since some towns have already enacted laws and it would be difficult for them to go through the ordinance adoption process all over again. It’s one of the many details that needs to be addressed before any of this legal weed stuff comes to fruition.

Until people get used to the idea, there are going to be plenty of towns that are going to want to watch this legislation carefully, since we know that there are plenty who would say “not in my town!” But for now, we gotta let the lawmakers argue it out.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco. Any opinions expressed are Judi’s own.