So what will campgrounds do now that our State legalized marijuana? ****EDITED 10-18-22****
This is a pretty hot topic right? You either REALLY support it, or you REALLY hate the idea. There doesn't seem to be anyone in between that I've met so far.
So what will campgrounds do now that marijuana is legalized? I've talked to many campground owners about this issue. The opinions are VERY split. Half say they don't care, the other half say no way.
Every campground is run differently. Which is why you MUST check with the campground on its rules or policies. Here at Triple R the word marijuana and family do not go hand in hand. Campgrounds that support the legalization will no doubt end up loosing that "family friendly" status. Maybe not the first year, or second year, but eventually. And that will be done by the customer at the campgrounds expense. If they support it, they will no doubt get business from some people that use marijuana. However, if they truly are a FAMILY campground, and that is how they advertise themselves, they MUST ask themselves the following questions:
- Should this be around kids?
- Should this be smoked near people that don’t want to be near it?
- Is this "family friendly"?
- Is this something we should teach our kids to be acceptable?
- There are plenty of issues with alcohol at campgrounds, do we need to add another impairment to the equation?
So all of these questions have obvious answers right? Regardless of which side of the fence your on you'll have your own opinion, your own answer. And that's OK. This is still America and we are allowed to have our opinions.
If this becomes legal at the State Level, but not at the federal level, what recourse does the campground owner have, if he catches someone in possession of or smoking it on his or hers property? Does he/she have the legal right to throw someone out for a substance? So here is the bottom line. The owner of private property has the legal right to ban any "thing, substance, activity, object or person from being on their property. Take guns, alcohol, fireworks or firewood for instance. Many campgrounds refuse the entry of some or all of these commonly today. That is because they can. Its private property even though it doesn't look like it. Some people think its a public place. Legally, its not, its private property. Marijuana might just be one more banned item in some campgrounds.
But lets dig deeper.
There are other issues a campground owner may have with allowing an illegal substance on their property. Let say, we don't have the prohibition of marijuana in our rules and policies. Then lets say someone brings some in and gets high. Then they crash a golf cart into another customers car, that ends in a lawsuit between himself, and the owner of the car he hit. (Yes, just like it could happen with an alcohol related impairment, but alcohol is not State of Federally illegal). Even if the use of the marijuana has NO bearing on the crash. The property/campground owner will no doubt get named in the lawsuit because we allowed it OR we didn't catch it. Now lets introduce a fact that 99.99999% of you will have no idea has anything to do with the rules and policies at any campground. The fact most campgrounds have a commercial mortgage. Go ahead, ask yourself. What the heck does that have to do with it? Did you know that a commercial mortgage has stipulations that the borrower has to agree, and follow all State and Federal laws? Did you know if the campground owner or operator ends up in a lawsuit like the one we just talked about above, whereas a State or Federal law is broken their bank can "call the loan"? Your campground could essentially end up in default on a loan they have never missed a payment on? It could cause the park to go bankrupt and close. This is just an example on how campground owners have to look very deep into their rules and policies. What should be allowed, what should we not allow. How does it legally effect us? What COULD happen?
So if the owner of the campground bans the substance, and decides the only course of action is to remove an offending customer, can they do that? The answer is yes. Anyone that was here on Memorial Day weekend 2018, or the day after Labor Day 2019 saw it first hand. One left peacefully, the other is still in jail for refusing to leave when told to do so.
But here is the bottom line for Triple R. It is our opinion, that being high, is not a family activity, and seeing this is private property, it will not be tolerated. There wont even be a discussion or argument. It is now written into our policies. It is ALSO the opinion of the State of NY that it is NOT LEGAL HERE. See for yourself. https://cannabis.ny.gov/adult-use-information As you can see, Triple R falls under three different definitions of paces it is illegal.
That being said, what about CBD (cannabis oils) for use as a medical treatment? Lets just put it this way, if you have a medical condition and have a prescription for CBD, use it in the confines of your camper, and keep it to yourself.
As you can see, there is opinion, and then there is legal reasons why marijuana can not be on our property. It just so happens that, legal reason, and ours opinion line up.
Smoking or possession of marijuana on Triple R property will get you removed, within minutes. Please leave it at home.
