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TOMS RIVER, NJ – Democrat candidate for mayor Ben Giovine said if he is elected mayor of Toms River in November, he will push to overturn a 2021 ban on the sale of legal marijuana in Toms River. The Toms River Township Council voted against allowing weed businesses to operate within the town.
Giovine said the township would benefit from the sale of legal marijuana in the community, pumping the township coffers with more money.
Giovine, a progressive ally of New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, who works for ultra-progressive Congressman Andy Kim said he will open the gates to retail cannabis sales township-wide.
Giovine tied that comment into another where he said he would create a plan to fill the many vacant storefronts in the township’s strip malls.
Giovine pointed to a referendum vote where 60% of people voted in favor of legalizing marijuana in New Jersey, however, the majority of Toms River residents have told the town council they do not want dispensaries in their neighborhoods.
“In 2020, an overwhelming majority voted to approve recreational cannabis. With such a result, I am confused on why the council overwhelmingly took a stance to ban operations in Toms River,” Giovine said. “As Mayor, I’d hope the Council would be open to speaking and hearing from other towns that have seen enormous windfalls from dispensary operations. We are a pro-business community and I disagree with any broad prohibitions on legal businesses to open up…
