Commissioner Maury Blumberg wants Margate to consider Cannabis retail. Maybe issue licenses in order maintain some kind of control?
Commissioner John Amodeo has deep concerns though. We’re a family town.
Listen to clips from recent Margate Commissioner meeting:
Decriminalization of Cannabis. New, softer laws from Trenton may tie hands of our Margate Police Department.
Problems with kids & alcohol in the past. Can’t search ’em.
Amodeo
Police will have their hands full this summer.
Driving while high.
Mayor Becker says he’s a bit of a prude with this kind of stuff. Becker agrees with Amodeo. Doesn’t want that ‘atmosphere’.
Posting of new signs. No Public Smoking of Marijuana, Hashish, Tobacco.
Margate Police Chief Hankinson. Enforcement of this new, NJ State law. Some of this stuff still vague.
How can you justify liquor stores but not cannabis stores? Both are drugs but pot is far, far less harmful than alcohol. No one should drive under influence of either, but the level of impairment from drinking is massively more dangerous than driving high. Alcohol destroys the kidneys, liver, and other organs and is addictive. Pot might make you gain a few lbs from the munchies but it won’t kill you like alcohol does.
Calling for a weed ban because it’s a “family town” is a BS argument – you better shut down all Tomatoes and Maynards and Memories because the sloppy drunks stumbling around and puking on Amherst ave doesn’t exactly fit that narrative.
Do not bring cannabis to Margate as it will bring this family town too many problems you cannot fathom at this time. Where I live now there are endless problems with the cannabis businesses that attract the wrong type of element and we now suffer because of it. I would hope that the rest of the cities on the island, Longport, Ventnor and Atlantic City would also decide not to have any cannabis businesses too.
Can you please describe the wrong element you’re referencing? You seem to be trying to say something but lacking the cajones to come out at actually say it.
Absolutely YES to cannabis sales. Amedeo lives in the 50’s, 1950’s that is. Family town, give me a break. A bunch of entitled rich kids that do whatever they want, rules don’t apply to them. Walk up and down any street and on the beach in the summer, this is the furthest place from a family town.
Wrong element = young people on drugs who probably make other bad choices (such as decide to rob your home or attack you).
If you own property in Margate, what possible upside is there for allowing the opening of one of these places?
Give the rest of us a break. If it’s so bad here, then move. And if you’re so concerned and so anti-Amodeo, then run against him and back up your big, empty talk.
If you check the vote in margate on cannabis last november, you will see the majority voted FOR cannabis. Even if Margate does not allow dispensaries, cannabis will be delivered to Margate. Ocean City claims it is a “dry town”, yet booze is delivered there by the truck load.
I assure you, a community close by will allow a dispensary, that community will get the jobs, the tax revenue, and Margate will still have cannabis in their community delivered on a daily basis.
Owner – if you think that’s who patronizes dispensaries, you’re wrong. It’s often your neighbor and your friends. And to be clear, I don’t partake and never have. But clearly you haven’t seen other cities where this has been successful, like Denver. What are upsides? Jobs, revenue and tighter control.
Nobody bothered to refute the first posted comment, which is absolutely bogus. “Pot is far less harmful than alcohol?” Only someone who is making money off pot would say something like that. Driving under the influence of pot is really dangerous.
Anonymous – Nobody refuted it because it’s totally proven that weed is far safer than alcohol. Just google it and read any of the studies. Here I’ll quote one for you…notice this doesn’t mention the drunk driving deaths which are the worst problem.
“In 2014, 30,722 people died from alcohol-induced causes in the US — and that does not count drinking-related accidents or homicides. If those deaths were included, the number would be closer to 90,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Meanwhile, no deaths from marijuana overdoses have been reported, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. A 16-year study of more than 65,000 Americans, published in the American Journal of Public Health, found that healthy marijuana users were not more likely to die earlier than healthy people who did not use cannabis.“
And here – studies show driving on weed is much safer than booze. If you think otherwise you are ignoring countless scientific studies. Please show a single one that concludes pot is more dangerous than booze.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/02/09/stoned-drivers-are-a-lot-safer-than-drunk-ones-new-federal-data-show/
We should be banning alcohol if Margate is a “family town”. 10,000 people a year die from drunk driving and tens of thousands more from alcohol related illness. All data – even federal studies – shows pot is far safer.
A large case-control study conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found no significant increased crash risk attributable to cannabis after controlling for drivers’ age, gender, race, and presence of alcohol.
Compton RP, Berning A. Drug and Alcohol Crash Risk. Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; 2015. DOT HA 812 117.
Anonymous – wow, are you wrong. 44,000+ deaths per year due to alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver represents 13.5 cases per every 100,000 population. How many of those were from marijuana? Go ahead, will wait. While I too think people shouldn’t drive while impaired by anything , the real stats cited in studies don’t bear that out about marijuana.
Cannabis businesses deal in cash and they have a lot of cash on hand that’s why they have to hire an armed guard inside and outside the store fronts. This makes them at target for robbery on an ongoing basis. Where I live we have endless problems with these cannabis businesses and we regret on many levels having them do business at all.
I think you’re simply making stuff up as you go at this point to support your opposition these business. There is nothing whatsoever that suggest if such businesses are approved in Margate that they will be handling large quantities of cash. I guess you’d advocate against casinos too, using your cash business rationale? Oh wait, they have security and video and seem to do just fine.
So you know for a fact that these businesses proposed in Margate will be dealing in large quantities of cash if approved? No, you’re presuming that. I guess we should close the casinos too using your rationale as they handle lots of cash and have security? You’re just making stuff up as you go, and suggesting it applies to what would happen in Margaret if approved.
So you know for a fact that these businesses proposed in Margate will be dealing in large quantities of cash if approved? No, you’re presuming that. I guess we should close the casinos too using your rationale as they handle lots of cash and have security? You’re just making stuff up as you go, and suggesting it applies to what would happen in Margate if approved.
Bars deal in lots of cash too – shut them down. Or support common sense legislation and hope the Senate passes the SAFE banking act for these businesses.
I got news for you, cannabis has been in Margate, Ventnor and yes… Longport since the 60’s. Anyone that wants to smoke it , are already doing it. By having a dispensary here, it might help in keeping taxes in line. Also, the snack industry will flourish. As far as undesirables, Atlantic City will have a dispensary and no one will come to Margate, just for pot, when AC has one.