starting today Ocean City is Banning backpacks from the boardwalk after 8 pm and teens will have to abide by a new 11 pm curfew the rules were approved today during an emergency city council meeting the result of Rowdy teens holding hundreds of pop-up parties at the shore over Memorial Day Weekend the issue is shining light on a controversial piece of New Jersey's recreational marijuana law now a group of legislators want to crack down Ted Goldberg reports New Jersey has moved a step closer to imposing hundred dollar fines for underage alcohol or cannabis possession the assembly Judiciary Committee has advanced a bill that would change how law enforcement deals with these offenses despite opposition from civil liberties groups Rich largely white children will have parents pay this 100 fine and children of color who are disproportionately living in families affected by poverty will not be able to fines are not effective returns but also that they can lead to long-term harm for young people especially low-income black and brown young people who are disproportionately targeted the underlying law and this bill there is simply no mandate on the minor to submit to a identifying themselves for the purpose of initiating the fine people are born with their birth certificates in their foreheads cops don't know who's over under 21. the underlying law states that police can give a written warning to anyone under 21 who has alcohol or cannabis but officers are prohibiting from arresting or detaining them it was part of the law legalizing cannabis that passed in Trenton two years ago law enforcement groups want changes to be made to this new law fearing that officers could be charged with violating civil rights if they uphold part of the law in the olden days we skip report cards by mail and my dad's going to laugh when I tell him this my brother used to be able to intercept that report card when it came home and he'd find it in the closet a few days later the law past two years ago was well intentioned but the the Practical effect that it has Upon Our officers has been has been extremely chill it's happening and fear that we put police officers in a situation where they're trying to do their job and keep the community safe and they're risking their pensions it really just decimated the law I sent actually saying sending a message to underage folks do whatever you want opponents of the law like Senator Declan o Scanlon say it's led to pop-up parties on the Jersey Shore and the raucous Memorial Day weekend in Ocean City that saw nearly a thousand incidents Ocean City has resorted to closing its beaches at 8 pm and after today's city council meeting backpacks will be illegal on the boardwalk after eight while the teen curfew moves up to 11 p.m the goal here is not to punish young people the goal is to deter them from doing these things in the first place so now you have municipalities trying to get a handle around this uh and you know doing what they can which is some Draconian uh limits on who can be on the beach uh the times people could be on the beach Senator o Scanlon has drafted a bill that would make underage possession of cannabis or alcohol a disorderly offense carrying a 500 fine that bill hasn't made its way through committee yet while the bill imposing a hundred dollar fine was approved three to two our Jersey Shore is one of the most valuable resources this state has and we're going to let it slowly and now probably more rapidly deteriorate if you're interested in preserving the Jersey Shore I've got a bunch of environmental bills there are exceptions to the fine like if someone has a medical emergency because of alcohol or calls 9-1-1 to help somebody else in Trenton I'm Ted Goldberg NJ Spotlight news