Princeton Council Introduces Ordinance Banning Marijuana Biz

PRINCETON, NJ — The town council voted unanimously to introduce an ordinance that temporarily prohibits all marijuana businesses in town. The ordinance was introduced during Monday’s council meeting, as the state deadline to decide whether to allow or block marijuana retail looms large.

Eve Niedergang chair of Princeton’s Cannabis Task Force (CTF) introduced the ordinance.

“The Cannabis Task Force was not able to do all the research and explore all the questions that they felt needed answering in order to have an “opt-in” ordinance ready for tonight,” Niedergang said.

“The task force will continue its work and hopes to present a limited opt-in ordinance focused on retail cannabis sales to the council in the near future.”

Earlier this year, the township established the CTF with an aim to sketch out guidelines and make recommendations on whether or not the township should host a cannabis dispensary.

As reported earlier by Patch, Princeton’s opt-out ordinance is only temporary.

Read More Here: Cannabis Dispensary In Princeton? Not Until The Fall

The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission is expected to roll out its rules and regulations governing the marijuana industry in August, around the same time municipalities have to pass ordinances.

The temporary "opt-out" gives municipalities the option to review the new regulations and make changes accordingly. If they fail to pass an ordinance in that time, townships will not be able to repeal or alter their ordinances. Not only will marijuana businesses be allowed to operate, but officials won't have another chance to issue a ban for the next five years.

With the opt-out ordinance in place, the CTF will continue with its research. A copy of the ordinance can be found here.

Councilwoman Michelle Pirone Lambros said the task force will first focus on Class 5 cannabis retailer licenses, and then look at other license categories

“We want to take time to do the due diligence necessary to make informed recommendations to the council. This includes researching and comparing experiences in other similar-sized towns as ours and providing to council and community more information,” Lambros said.

Since the retail question is the most complex, Lambros said the task force felt it was necessary to lead first with that.

The CTF will be researching and discussing issues including identifying commercial zones, what will be the maximum total allowable dispensaries for the whole town, operational criteria, infrastructure availability, etc.

“The task force is committed to looking at the criteria with a social justice lens,” Lambros said.

Councilwoman Leticia Fraga said that one of the reasons why the task force was not ready to make recommendations yet is because it wants to focus on the social justice aspect.

“We want to make sure we are looking at social and restorative justice in terms of cannabis policing and enforcement, as we deliberate and develop recommendations to what extent cannabis should be permitted or regulated in Princeton,” Fraga said.

“We want to ensure social and racial justice considerations are going to be highly valued in all our decision making.”

Fraga said the CTF intends to make use of Princeton's Racial Equity Assessment Toolkit in the research process.

New Jersey voters overwhelmingly approved recreational marijuana in November 2020. But it wasn't legal until Gov. Phil Murphy signed it into law on Feb. 22.

Princeton is not the only township to "opt-out" of cannabis businesses. South Brunswick introduced an ordinance prohibiting all cannabis business operations in the township. Meanwhile, Lawrence Township has decided to permit marijuana retailers to operate in town.

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