HOBOKEN -- The City Council on Wednesday will vote to adopt legislation that would temporarily prohibit recreational marijuana dispensaries from opening until the city adopts an official policy on legal cannabis.
While state legislators work toward legalizing the drug, Hoboken officials have yet to approve a policy for how the municipality will regulate recreational marijuana. The next scheduled sessions for both the state Senate and the Assembly is Dec. 17.
If marijuana is legalized before the city can establish its own policy for how businesses will operate, officials fear marijuana dispensaries could set up shop in residential zones. To prevent that from happening, the Hoboken council will vote on a “short-term safe guard" barring cannabis businesses in the city until the council "can evaluate and pass an updated ordinance,” according to the agenda for Wednesday’s meeting.
