The borough of Madison has received an application from 1st Choice Health & Wellness, LLC for a license to operate a medicinal cannabis dispensary at 340 Main Street (the office building next to Lukoil Gas Station). 

Medical marijuana is legal in the state of New Jersey, and Madison permits the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries within the town.

The dispensary is proposed along the commercial corridor and satisfies statutory requirements regarding distance from schools. 

Medical marijuana is used by many members of our community, and the community voted overwhelmingly in favor of not only medical but recreational marijuana. 

Those in opposition to the dispensary propose requiring a 200 ft buffer zone around all residential areas. This restriction, along with the school buffer zone, would effectively prohibit the existence of a dispensary anywhere in town. 

Even the California Police Chiefs Association supports legislation for local medical marijuana dispensaries citing higher risk from delivery-based dispensaries. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/03/california-police-chiefs-regulation-medical-marijuana/

And, contrary to claims made by those in opposition to the dispensary, there is no evidence of any association between property or violent crimes and medical marijuana dispensaries.*

Those who rely on medical marijuana for treatment deserve to have local, safe access to their medication. 

Sign the petition, and contact the mayor and council at MayorCouncil@rosenet.org

* Supporting Evidence:
From The Cannabis Effect on Crime: Time-Series Analysis of Crime in Colorado and Washington State, published in Justice Quarterly, Volume 38, 2021, Issue 4, “we observed no statistically significant long-term effects from recreational cannabis laws or the initiation of retail sales on violent or property crime rates in the states.”

From Exploring the ecological association between crime and medical marijuana dispensaries, published in The Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, July 2012, “There were no observed cross-sectional associations between the density of medical marijuana dispensaries and either violent or property crime rates in this study.”

And, from Cannabis in the capital: exploring the spatial association between medical marijuana dispensaries and crime, published in the Journal of Crime and Justice, Volume 43, 2020, Issue 1, “We conclude that the preponderance of evidence in Washington DC shows that medicinal marijuana dispensaries have no immediate criminogenic effect on the surrounding area.”