OCEAN CITY – Mayor Rick Meehan said proposed code amendments prohibiting the issuance of on-site consumption licenses will not affect the town’s policies on smoking in public areas such as the beach and Boardwalk.
Last week, officials presented the Mayor and Council with two code amendments pertaining to on-site cannabis consumption. The changes would not only prohibit the issuance of cannabis on-site consumption business licenses, but would establish penalties for any violations.
In a Mayor and Council meeting Monday, Meehan said since the ordinances were introduced, he had received several emails on the subject. He said he wanted to make it clear the resort would not allow cannabis use in public areas.
“I think there might have been some confusion,” he said. “I got a number of emails – and I believe it might have been related to this – that we were prohibiting the issue of the license for on-site consumption, and I think some mistook this as we would then be allowing it in other public areas such as the beach and the Boardwalk. I’ve answered those emails, but that is absolutely not true. None of our policies with regard to smoking on the beach and the Boardwalk have changed.”
Meehan noted the Town of Ocean City was permitted to prohibit the issuance of on-site consumption licenses outlined in Maryland’s new cannabis reform legislation.
“This is about consumption establishments that were outlined in the legislation that was passed,” he said. “We have the right, as a municipality, to prohibit them here in Ocean City. So that’s the action that we’re taking.”
On May 3, Gov. Wes Moore signed Maryland’s cannabis reform bill into law, paving the way for recreational sales beginning July 1. In the November election, two-thirds of voters supported a state referendum to legalize recreational marijuana. The legislation signed into law last month essentially establishes an adult-use cannabis industry through the creation of tax rates and licensing framework.
“This legislation, among other things, expanded cannabis licensing within the Maryland annotated code,” Deputy City Manager J.R. Harmon told the council last week. “Section 36-401 of the alcoholic beverage article specifically created an on-site consumption license, which authorizes the holder of the license to operate a facility on the premise in which individuals can smoke outdoors, vape or consume cannabis.”
Back on the agenda for discussion and first reading this week, the council voted 7-0 to approve code amendments that would essentially prohibit the operation of on-site consumption establishments within the town’s corporate limits. The amendments also included a fine of no less than $25 and no more than $1,000 for any violation.
