Cannabis Ban For Law Enforcement Urged By Ocean County Officials - Patch

"The Ocean County Sheriff will continue to follow federal law," which classified marijuana as an illegal Schedule 1 drug, officials said.

TOMS RIVER, NJ — While the New Jersey attorney general's office has given the green light to law enforcement officers in the state to use marijuana while they are off-duty, Ocean County officials are vehemently opposed to that approach.

New Jersey voters approved the legalization of recreational marijuana use by adults in November 2020, and legal cannabis sales began across New Jersey last week.

But marijuana remains classified as a Schedule 1 prohibited drug under federal law. Because of that and because there is no way to determine in the field whether someone is impaired by marijuana, the Ocean County Board of Commissioners and Sheriff Michael G. Mastronardy say it should be banned for law enforcement.

"Marijuana when consumed stays in your system for 30 days," said John P. Kelly, director of the board of commissioners, "and there are no field tests to determine the level of marijuana intoxication."

In a memo to police chiefs and local, county and state officials, acting Attorney General Matthew Platkin noted that New Jersey police departments "may not take any adverse action against any officers because they do or do not use cannabis off duty."

Police departments also can't fire or refuse to onboard employees simply due to the presence of cannabinoid metabolites in an officer's body fluids, Platkin said.

But Kelly said that because marijuana is still classified as illegal under federal law, any agency that allows its officers to use the drug could be ineligible to receive certain federal grants.

"The Ocean County Sheriff will continue to follow federal law," Kelly said. "The sheriff feels very strongly about this."

Murphy has said he would be open to legislation that would address recreational cannabis use by law enforcement officers, but said "aggressive action" will be taken with any law enforcement officer found intoxicated on the job.

"This will be strictly enforced at both the state police and every local law enforcement - county, local or otherwise: there is no allowing anybody to show up impaired. Whether you're drinking, you've smoked weed, whatever the reason. Anybody who shows up impaired will be dealt with aggressively. It has been the case and it will always continue to be the case."

Platkin has said the memo was not a directive, but a reminder that adverse actions against employees - law enforcement or otherwise - who use cannabis will not be tolerated. He also noted that law enforcement drug testing policy is being updated to reflect the current law.

"No one can show up to work intoxicated, you can't possess or use cannabis or unregulated marijuana at the workplace, and you can't use unregulated marijuana at all," he said. "Public safety continues to be the top concern."

Kelly said the lack of a way to reliably test for marijuana intoxication makes enforcing that problematic at best.

The lack of reliable field tests and standards for marijuana intoxication has been a driving factor in law enforcement opposition to the legalization of recreational cannabis use.

County officials noted several law enforcement organizations support a ban on use by law enforcement officers, including the Sheriffs Association of New Jersey, the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police and the Ocean County Police Chiefs Association.

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source: https://patch.com/new-jersey/tomsriver/cannabis-ban-law-enforcement-urged-ocean-county-officials

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