Which towns now allow dispensaries, other businesses

Six months after 400 towns opted out completely, New Jersey is becoming a — slightly — greener place for the fledgling cannabis industry to begin taking root. 

About 29% of municipalities in New Jersey now welcome some semblance of the cannabis industry, after 35 towns that had previously prohibited all classes of cannabis businesses have since passed ordinances allowing at least one type of licensed cannabis business to operate within their borders, according to a USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey analysis of municipal ordinances.

At the time of a state-mandated deadline in August, fewer than a quarter of municipalities had passed such ordinances. 

The findings show that 22 municipalities that previously banned all legal marijuana businesses have since decided to allow retail sales. Three other towns that had previously allowed some cannabis uses, but not retail dispensaries, have since passed ordinances to allow retail uses.

Another 10 towns with complete cannabis bans have opted into some aspects of the cannabis industry but continue to prohibit retail dispensaries. 

“I think a lot of communities took the ‘not in my backyard’ approach to opt out from adult use but will come to regret their decision,” said Joshua Horn, co-chair of the national cannabis law practice at the Fox Rothschild firm. “These communities will lose out of good paying jobs and the corresponding infusion of tax dollars.”

In February 2021, Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law a marijuana legalization bill package that came with a six-month deadline. According to the legal weed laws, municipalities had 180 days to decide whether they wanted to opt into the cannabis industry — and pass an ordinance regulating it as such — or opt out completely. Unlike other states, the ordinances didn’t bind towns to those decisions for years. 

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