The New Jersey Civil Service Commission today decided to reinstate Jersey City cops who wanted to smoke weed but then got fired for doing so.
They are now owed backpay after being unjustly fired.
Jersey City Mayor Loves Dispensaries but Hates Cops Smoking Weed
While the number of dispensaries open in Jersey City has continued to surge, Mayor Steve Fulop is still against cops smoking weed.
Five cops are in the suit. They are Norhan Mansour, Omar Polanco, Mackenzie Reilly, Montavious Patten, and Richie Lopez.
The New Jersey Civil Service Commission has to intervene in the case.
The cops have so far made progress defending their right to smoke weed.
A federal Judge refused to decide what should happen.
Judge Julien Xavier Neals dismissed the case about cops smoking weed. He noted that the cannabis legalization referendum implantation law, the Cannabis Regulatory and Enforcement of Modern Marijuana Act (CREAMMA), protects workers who consume cannabis.
Neals noted that the NJ Civil Service Commission has ultimate jurisdiction. In addition, he didn’t think the decision would matter, saying, “a decision by this Court will likely not “complete[ly] terminat[e]” the “controversy between” the Individual Defendants and Plaintiffs because the Individual Defendants may raise new claims, defenses, and move for reinstatement. Accordingly, this factor weighs against exercising jurisdiction.”
Federal Guns Laws and State Legal Cannabis Problems
Fulop has said that is an issue since the cops carry guns. He has insisted on this despite the State of New Jersey not seeing a problem. New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin noted they cannot consume on duty nor purchase cannabis from the underground legacy market. But otherwise, it’s fine.
Gun ownership complicates it and federal laws are the complication Jersey City is wary of. For example, it is difficult if one wants to own a gun and be a medical cannabis patient.
It has been an ongoing issue for some time.
Police should be allowed to consume cannabis. They would understand its merits. It is also a great way to cope with the intense stress some likely face. It would also end wild stories of drunken cops.
The Jersey City Police Officers Benevolent Association is backing the officers.
The city is likely to try to continue to keep fighting the issue.
(UPDATED) Fulop’s Press Secretary responded in an email saying, “Our case is in federal court, not the state, so this decision is predictable. That said, as the liable entity we will appeal as the Civil Service Commission continues to avoid the principal cause at the center of this legal dispute, and instead, they issued a directive without providing a solution to the significant problem that puts our police officers and the community at risk.”
Jersey City Cannabis Dispensary Boom
While Jersey City cops are not allowed to smoke weed, so many dispensaries are opening in the city.
Many have opened already. Areas like downtown, which includes the Newark Pedestrian Plaza and the main road of Central Avenue in the Heights in the north, have many dispensaries.
While many were approved by the Jersey City Cannabis Control Board (CCB), a few have already run into hurdles so high they are not likely to open.
Sources say the noted rapper and actor Ice-T had problems opening and has given up.
Many are too close to each other. The issue of a sufficient distance between dispensaries and when a place can claim territory has not been resolved.
The City Council and Planning Board had different definitions since the Council thought the pin went in the map once they passed a resolution. But the Planning Board disagreed.
The only thing the City Council has resolved is a moratorium to stop new companies from applying for resolution.
The Council has already approved 46 dispensaries to operate in the city. The Jersey City Cannabis Control Board approved even more at 61 to go before the Planning Board and City Council.
They also approved 2 growers.
According to the city’s Department of Commerce, 10 dispensaries are already open.
Many think the intense competition will force some dispensaries to close. From a Public Policy and Social Justice perspective, this might be seen like a failure that needs to be stopped.
But in the eyes of American Business, it is merely another casualty of the market.
Fulop himself has said on the record thinks that competition like this is normal.
He does seem aware that a path to legality is the way to address ongoing underground legacy operations.
Hudson County Cannabis and Lawsuits
Unfortunately, Fulop is still embroiled in the Hoboken cannabis process. His wife Jaclyn owns a building that the small corporate Multi-State Operator Story dispensary wants to occupy. A lawsuit by former Health and Human Services Director Leo Pellegrini is accusing him of exerting his influence despite mass opposition.
Pellegrini was part of the Hoboken Cannabis Review Board.
A second lawsuit was filed based on the first lawsuit. Nature’s Touch NJ MD LLC filed a lawsuit in Hudson County Superior County. They basically allege that Fulop exerted pressure in favor of Story Dispensary at their expense, and Mayor Ravi Bhalla obliged him.
Nature’s Touch won approval from the Hoboken Cannabis Review Board but was not able to proceed further. They were going to open first as a medical cannabis dispensary. Their award letter was sent to the address of one of the owners in Bergen County. The first town they wanted to be based in turned against them.
