[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township of Bridgewater 4-5-2021 by Ord. No. 21-05. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A. 
The purpose of this chapter is to regulate the use and consumption of cannabis and cannabis items in public places, as discussed in Section 46 of the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act.[1] Pursuant to Section 46 and N.J.S.A. 26:3D-65a, a municipality may, by ordinance, fine an individual who smokes or carries lighted cannabis, or consumes cannabis not by smoking, vaping, or aerosolizing, in any public place.
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 24:6I-1 et seq.
B. 
For purposes of this chapter, "public place" means "any place to which the public has access that is not privately owned; or any place to which the public has access where alcohol consumption is not allowed, including, but not limited to, a public street, road, thoroughfare, sidewalk, bridge, alley, plaza, park, playground, swimming pool, shopping area, public transportation facility, vehicle used for public transportation, parking lot, public library, or any other public building, structure, or area."
C. 
In connection therewith, the Township of Bridgewater finds that in public places, the right of nonsmokers to breathe clean air outweighs the right of smokers to smoke, and also finds that the consumption of cannabis in public places in inimical to the health, safety, and welfare of the Township and its residents.
No person shall engage in the smoking, vaping, aerosolizing, or otherwise consuming of cannabis in a public place as defined in this chapter.
"No smoking, vaping, aerosolizing, or otherwise consuming cannabis or cannabis items" signs adequately providing notice of the prohibition on the smoking, vaping, aerosolizing, or otherwise consuming of cannabis or cannabis items shall be clearly, sufficiently, and conspicuously posted in all public places affected by this section. Such signs shall also indicate that violators are subject to the penalty provisions of this chapter.
Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 26:3D-65a and Section 46 of the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act, any person who violates this chapter by smoking, vaping, aerosolizing, or otherwise consuming cannabis or cannabis items in a public place is subject to a civil penalty of up to $200, which shall be recovered in a civil action by a summary proceeding in the name of the municipality pursuant to the Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999 (P.L. 1999, c. 274) (N.J.S.A. 2A:58-10 et seq.).