Asbury Park backs legalization of marijuana

ASBURY PARK – The city's leadership is supporting a movement to legalize marijuana in New Jersey.

The City Council has agreed to draft a resolution urging state lawmakers to legalize use of the drug which advocates say causes little or no harm to people.

The resolution would be a symbolic gesture, supporting efforts by the community group Help Not Handcuffs which has lobbied to stop law enforcement from arresting people for substance use.

Randy Thompson, founder of Help Not Handcuffs, said arrests for marijuana impose criminal records on people– deterring them from jobs and housing– for a minor offense. He also said marijuana enforcement distracts police from more serious crimes. He called on Asbury Park to make it the lowest law enforcement priority.

"This is a population that didn't do any harm to a person or property," Thompson said of people arrested for marijuana use. "As far as lethality, you're talking about a drug that you'd have to be bound and determined to overdose on it."

New Jersey law only sanctions the use of medical marijuana for people with certain health conditions with the approval of a doctor registered with the medicinal-pot program. Anyone else caught with marijuana faces fines, jail time and possibly community service if they are near a school.

Marijuana possession arrests account for half of all drug arrests nationally, according to Help Not Handcuffs. In Asbury Park, nearly half of the 440 drug possession arrests in 2013 were for marijuana.

Mayor John Moor said he was convinced to adopt the resolution supporting the legalization of marijuana after hearing a presentation from Thompson. He said he hoped the city's support of the movement would push New Jersey lawmakers to consider legalizing the drug.

"I thought it was a good enough opinion to open the dialogue, start the process," Moor said. "We are just trying to bring attention to other people in the state that this issue should be looked at."

Moor said the resolution will be drafted with input from Interim City Manager Tony Nuccio and Acting Police Chief Anthony Salerno. However, he said he expects police to continue enforcing the state's marijuana law until it changes.

Salerno said he will not sign off on the resolution. He said it's inappropriate for sworn police officers to be tied to political discussions or battles about laws.

"Law enforcement is not and should not be involved in the making of the laws or determining which laws we are going to enforce," Salerno said. "We are sworn to uphold all laws in this state and the United States. I can't be put in that position to be in a political volleyball match."

While some states, similar to New Jersey, allow different limitations of medical marijuana use, only Washington D.C., Colorado, Arkansas, Oregon and Washington state have completely legalized it.

Thompson said he believes cities such as Asbury Park have a more vulnerable population for marijuana arrests since it is predominantly black. African-Americans are arrested at a rate that is three times that of their white counterparts, he said.

"It's going to be very significant because we are going to have a chance to highlight all of the harms (of marijuana enforcement)," Thompson said. "We are not having a discussion right now about the harms of prohibition. We are not having the discussion about keeping people out of the criminal justice system."

Nicquel Terry: 732-643-4023; nterry@gannettnj.com