Atlantic City, NJ Effort To Halt Recreational Marijuana Expansion

Atlantic City, New Jersey Councilman Jesse Kurtz is supporting a petition effort to stop Mayor Marty Small from expanding recreational marijuana from expanding beyond the business district.

During a Friday, April 5, 2024 live, on-air interview with Atlantic City Councilman George Tibbitt … Tibbitt expressed his displeasure and concerns about recreational marijuana potentially spreading through all 48 blocks of Atlantic City … including within close proximity of schools, ballfields and playgrounds.

“Exposing our children to marijuana in a recreationally approved manner is absolutely the wrong thing to do,” said Tibbitt.

”We are supposed to teach children to stay away from drug use and instead, the mayor is pushing for legalized, recreational marijuana throughout the entire city,” said Tibbitt.

Tibbitt described a “bait and switch” approach that was exhibited by Small.

City Council initially approved recreational marijuana stores in the business areas … basically within the casino district of Atlantic City.

Small then quickly moved to expand it on a city-wide basis.

When Tibbitt and Kurtz opposed the expansion, Small attempted to play the race card, charging that Tibbitt and Kurtz wanted to keep legal recreational marijuana out of only the 6th Ward of Atlantic City … which is a predominantly white section of Atlantic City.

This is a gross misrepresentation by Small. During multiple on-air interviews with Tibbitt … Tibbitt made it clear that the desire is to protect all children … in all wards … to not be exposed to the proliferation of legalized recreational marijuana in Atlantic City.

I have learned about the creation of a citizen’s petition, known as “Ordinance No. 3 of 2024 of the City of Atlantic City, NJ.”

The ordinance has been presented to the Atlantic City Clerk and here it is:

The petition is currently in the process of being circulated throughout Atlantic City and it appears to be a popular movement.

There are approximately 40,000 residents in Atlantic City. Only a small fraction of this number approved for recreational marijuana in Atlantic City.

Developing.

SOURCES: Atlantic City Councilmen George Tibbitt & Jesse Kurtz.