Marijuana discussion

[anon-54r5]

[anon-0421]

I dont think that it on the outskirts of town will make a difference. Property values are not going to go down. Buyrite is in cranbury and my property value has not went down from having a liquor store in Cranbury. Either way - once they legalize it you will be able to smoke it in Cranbury LOL. Even if you can buy it here.

[Anon-p5no]

You should get your lawyer friend to explain “Post hoc ergo propter hoc” to you. Or just keep moving the goalposts and claim that this is really about property values or something. Marijuana is not a gateway drug. The only people who even use that term are elderly people who were far too willing to believe everything Nancy Regan told them back in the early 80s.

[Anon-p5no]

You should get your lawyer friend to explain “Post hoc ergo propter hoc” to you. Or just keep moving the goalposts and claim that this is really about property values or something. Marijuana is not a gateway drug. The only people who even use that term are elderly people who were far too willing to believe everything Nancy Regan told them back in the early 80s.

[anon-54r5]

This is about property values. The TC doesn't decide legalization.

The post that started the thread is whether the TC is discussing this on the agenda Monday night.

The only reason for the TC to discuss is whether the town will allow sales like is being discussed in a bunch of other towns.

I oppose its sale. If you want and support it go to the meeting. But like with the library thread you won't nor will anyone else posting here that supports its sale. Unless it is the facility that stands to make money. Everyone else loses.

[anon-p5no]

[anon-54r5]

[anon-p5no]

[anon-s6p5]

On Monday night the Township Committee will be discussing whether we want to allow recreational sales of marijuana in Cranbury if the state makes it legal.

The current discussion in Trenton is as follows:

- each county would have one facility to allow for recreational sales.
- Medical and recreational would most likely need to be sold in separate facilities.

I have done a lot of research since we allowed the medical facility to open. I've spoken with Assembly members, law enforcement, attorneys, our municipal alliance, and people in Colorado.

This is not an issue of what is our position on legalization, but do we want it sold in Cranbury.

I think this is an important matter for our residents and from the research I have done I am of the view the town will likely be impacted in a materially negative way if it is allowed regardless of where it is allowed.

From stats I was provided and discussion with people dealing with the issues it is clear that for towns like Cranbury there would be both a negative impact to property values and and most likely an increased crime rate (exception is a lack of clarity and proof of violent crime).

There is a lot of misleading data around home sales and that includes comments from some in our legislature. The NY Times even ran an article citing an increase of home values in Colorado, but did not dive into what the impact was in towns with dispensarys or grow houses.

In general Colorado home sales have continued to increase and legalization did not have a negative impact. However, this is at a macro-level. Diving into the statistics the market overall in Colorado had been increasing steadily and according to realtors in Colorado and realtor.com there increase is not from Legalization it was more of a coincidence just as if the market had collapsed at the same time and a drop in prices had occurred. therefore, legalization on a state level is not likely to create a negative home value.

When you start to look into the numbers in towns similar to Cranbury where sales of marijuana were being conducted with a starting base of similar home values (relative to the market), schooling, etc.. we can see declines in property values and sales length. In looking at data towns with grow houses had an 8.4% discount over towns without. Towns with dispensarys had a slightly lower discount, but still had lower values. The decrease did not transcend down to surrounding towns. However, the increased crime rate did extend out.

In terms of Crime a 3 year study in Denver concluded that there was a significant increase in property crime in and around towns with facilities. The good news is there was no hard data supporting the violent crime increase. Though violent crimes did increase it was not at a similar level and thus it was not possible in this study to conclude a connection.

in speaking with people in our legislature there will be one dispensary allowed in each county. That is it. Not all of the buyers are going to be reputable citizens and soccer moms. Your going to have people come in that may create problems for law enforcement who may otherwise had no desire or interest in being in Cranbury. Thus, the increase in property crime as evidenced in Colorado is likely to be exponentially greater in a town like Cranbury since we could be the only dispensary in the county and individuals looking to buy would come here from all over. In essence it becomes an attractive nuisance.

The other issue is the increased in impaired driving. Unlike drunk driving driving, driving under the influence of marijuana is harder to prove. Thus, we can take a drunk driver off the road, but have a harder time proving someone under the influence of marijuana. This has created significant problems for law enforcement in states where it is legal. Since legalizing marijuana Colorado has had an increase in driving fatalities, increase in impaired drivers, and increase in numbers of people driving under the influence of marijuana. Colorado does not test drivers who died or if the blood alcohol content is higher than law. So there is a footnote that the number of drivers impaired is likely under represented. Given we're a walking community and we already dealing with traffic issues (including a number of DUI arrests each month) creating an opportunity for more issues to arise is not something Cranbury police need to handle.

For these reasons I cannot see anyway to support allowing recreational sales in our community whether in the Industrial zone or in the down town. The risk and cost to our residents, property values, community and policing is too great to take this gamble.

[anon-7933]

https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/legalizing-marijuana-gets-housing-prices-high/

[anon-s6p5]

That is a good link. This is somewhat in line with what I heard speaking with people in Colorado, but it also is something that requires reading of the Wisconsin study and understanding how towns are operating. Just taking the high level citation can be misleading. You need to look into the stats and why it is important to read the Wisconsin study which is largely cited by advocates.

As the Wisconsin study indicated, Colorado allows for Municipalities to allowing sales facilities even neighborhoods within Denver have different rules and don't adopt.

From reading, most towns like Cranbury with solid schools, high property values are not adopting the regulations. So this is an important consideration.

Also per the Wisconsin study, "The effects in urban areas are driving the result: the significant housing value increase in urban areas is similar to the 6 percent average effect."

Here is another link:

http://www.westword.com/marijuana/marijuana-dispensaries-linked-to-rising-denver-home-prices-by-university-of-wisconsin-study-9531562

Eckler says home buyers in areas like Bonnie Brae, Lower Highland and West Washington Park still largely prefer to keep their cannabis consumption discreet, and don't necessarily want a dispensary nearby. "Take the five highest-priced neighborhoods in Denver – West Washington Park, Bonnie Brae and so on. If you throw a dispensary in there, you'd have an uproar. In Stapleton, you'd have the same thing if you put one in the town center. People of high income don't want it next to their kids; there's still a stigma attached to it."

"It's kind of a self-fulfilling thing. The neighborhood prices were already rising," Eckler explains, pointing to a supply shortage in Denver real estate as the real cause for the city's rising home prices. "Out of sight and out of mind is a good thing in real estate. In east Stapleton, [a home] is worth less if you can see the jail out there than if you can't. Same thing goes for a dispensary or the rough parts of Colfax."

So it is possible, that legalization in the state could increase Cranbury's property values.

I am sure if you opened a facility in say Camden where housing is cheap and you have new people coming looking for jobs it would likely increase property values. But, remember most jobs are not high paying in this industry just like other industries and rents/home values in Camden are not the same as Cranbury.

Also if the state legalizes may increase property values in the state perhaps even in Cranbury assuming there is no facility in town. People who move to NJ for legal marijuana may want to live in Cranbury, but they also are likely not to want the facility here. Similar to what is occurring in Colorado.


The other important element remains from the Wisconsin report citations in terms of the crime impact:

"Colorado’s Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area
(Wong and Clarke 2015), part of the federal government, compiles data from different sources and provides consistent evidence of the adverse effects. It shows that in 2014, when retail marijuana businesses began operating in Colorado, marijuana-related traffic deaths increased by 32 percent, marijuana-related emergency room visits increased by 29 percent, marijuana related hospitalizations increased by 38 percent, marijuana-related exposure increased by 72 percent, and marijuana-related impaired driving increased by 45 percent, compared to 2013.

Another potential major cost could come from increased illegal activities caused by RMLs that create negative externalities to local residents.

Another possible reason is that RMLs could invite more marijuana trafficking to local communities as criminal groups exploit the retail sale legalization (Drug Enforcement Administration 2013)."

[anon-102q]

This is perfect, considering we only have 2 cops on duty now.

[anon-0312]

[anon-4os8]

[Indivisible Cranbury-pp98]

Join us as we support the decriminalization of Marijuana by kneeling or sitting for the pledge of allegiance at the town meeting Monday night. We are calling on our representatives on the town council to join us in in solidarity for this silent protest. Disproportionately people of color, are charged with marijuana crimes hitting black communities the hardest. Meanwhile, police departments that presumably have far more important things to do waste an enormous amount of time and taxpayer money chasing a drug that two states have already legalized and that a majority of Americans believe should be legal everywhere.

[anon-sp7s]

Is it really necessary to sit thru the pledge of allegiance to get your point across about weed? It’s just grandstanding which
annoys and alienates people who would otherwise be either indifferent or in favor. Just articulate your views during the public comment portion.