‘Prevention First’ Board Of Health Tells Princeton Council On Cannabis

PRINCETON, NJ — The Princeton Board of Health raised a few concerns about proposed cannabis dispensaries in town during Tuesday’s meeting and adopted two resolutions. The first was to encourage the adoption of Least Harm Cannabis Usage Guidelines (LHCUG) in Princeton and the second was to defer licensing of cannabis retail in Princeton “pending planning and initiation of health safeguards.”

George DiFerdinando, BOH chair, said the idea was to “minimize harm” and look at “prevention first.” The BOH prepared a detailed document and draft resolution explaining what needs to be done ahead of sanctioning cannabis retail in town. During the March 8 meeting, the BOH decided to hold off on recommending to Council to defer action on approving cannabis retail in town. Read More: Princeton's Board Of Health Weighs In On Cannabis Retail Debate

“Before considering approving local sale, assess current local use and local prevention needs,” DiFerdinando wrote.

“Before considering if we should have one or more retail cannabis stores, we should plan, and plan to implement, education and outreach to assure that the public is aware of lower risk cannabis usage guidelines (LRCUG) to prevent as many negative effects as possible of recreational cannabis use. Finally, before debating where to locate a store, or how to expend any revenues generated by local sale, a clear estimate of needs and costs of registration, inspection, and enforcement of (among other things) age limits on sale should be made. Prevention first.”

The BOH said that the removal of legal penalties for recreational marijuana use was “consistent with good public health practice.” However, recreational use was a problem for some members of the community especially those vulnerable to its "negative health effects.”

“Therefore, the BOH recommends that any action to approve retail sale of cannabis in Princeton be deferred until such a time that realistic plans for increased education, outreach, access to acute and non-acute services, and data collection to assess the impact of recreational sale of cannabis in New Jersey and in Princeton, are available to be approved at the same time.”

Meanwhile, the continuation of Princeton’s special cannabis public meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 17, Councilwoman Eve Niedergang said on Monday. Niedergang is the chair of Princeton's Cannabis Task Force.

The first special meeting was held on March 29 and Over 340 people attended the four-hour-long discussion.

Apologizing for the long delay between meetings Niedergang said it was “very difficult to get all seven members of council” together and avoid other public meetings.

To read the documents in detail, click here.

Read More: Princeton Debates Cannabis Dispensaries At 4-Hour Meeting Tuesday

On Monday, New Jersey approved applications from seven medical marijuana companies to expand into the recreational market.

Verano, which operates Lawrenceville-based cannabis dispensary Zen Leaf, said the location will start personal use cannabis sales in a few weeks "following completion of several local regulatory and zoning items." A spokesperson said that the company may receive approval to sell in "short order" potentially as soon as next week. Read More: Lawrence Township Dispensary May Sell Recreational Cannabis Soon

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