Phillipsburg is home to one of New Jersey’s 19 medical marijuana dispensaries that will likely be first to open their doors to adult users once recreational sales start.
But any notions of a cannabis retail oasis in Warren County, and on Pennsylvania’s border, took a hit this week.
Town council cast a 4-0 preliminary vote Tuesday night to opt out of permitting any recreational marijuana businesses. The Apothecarium dispensary that opened last November on South Main Street is grandfathered in and unaffected by the decision, according to the town attorney, Rich Wenner.
Council members framed the decision as a way to buy time ahead of an Aug. 21 deadline for New Jersey municipalities to pass ordinances banning cannabis businesses or limiting their presence within their borders. If they take no action, they will be unable to regulate these establishments for five years.