Officials and residents of several New Jersey shore towns say the state’s law decriminalizing marijuana use is having an unintended effect: emboldening large groups of teenagers to run amok on beaches and boardwalks, knowing there is little chance of them getting in trouble for it.
Young people gather peacefully on the beach in Seaside Heights, N.J. on June 2, 2023. Officials and residents of several New Jersey shore towns say the state's law decriminalizing marijuana use is having an unintended effect: emboldening large groups of teenagers to run amok on beaches and boardwalks, knowing there is little chance of them getting in trouble for it. – It's summer on the Jersey Shore.
During Memorial Day weekend, police and media outlets reported episodes of underage drinking, drug use, fights and assaults in Ocean City and Seaside Heights — home to the infamous MTV series “Jersey Shore” in which a bunch of summer renters generally raised hell in town. Holly Kisby, an Ocean City resident who has worked on the boardwalk for over 30 years, said teens were drinking, smoking marijuana, setting off fireworks into the crowd, fighting, destroying property and stealing from stores, among other things.
Word spread fast among teens, who know they don't have to give officers their names as long as they don't walk away from the officer during questioning. The kids even know that officers themselves could face charges if they violate the rights of teens in these circumstances. “A lot of underage people make a dumb mistake and they get a criminal record,” ruining the rest of their life, added his friend Angel Aguero, 23. Both had come down to the beach from West New York, a town in New Jersey just across from Manhattan.
Prettyman, the Ocean City police chief, said officers throughout the state are hesitant to engage teens regarding alcohol or marijuana for fear of being charged themselves with a third-degree crime of depriving the teens of their rights. He said bills removing that provision, and reinstating penalties for underage possession and consumption of alcohol and pot, will help undo some of the excesses of the current law.
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