The evidence is mounting that despite New Jersey making adult-use marijuana legal, many towns in the state want nothing to do with it.
More than 70% of New Jersey towns have banned adult-use cannabis retail sales and are opting out of the legal marijuana industry.
This means nearly three-quarters of the municipalities in the state are decided to stay on the bench.
According to the USA Today Network, roughly 71% of New Jersey towns, which is bout 400 of them – have approved local ordinances that ban adult-use marijuana businesses.
A few weeks ago this number had only been expected to be at about half.
The USA Today Network analysis has revealed that only 98 municipalities have passed laws that will allow for adult-use cannabis retailers, growers, manufacturers and other business types. Most of those are located in southern and central New Jersey.
The analysis has also found that 41 towns have approved ordinances that ban cannabis retail but allow other types of marijuana companies, such as distributors or grows.
And another 10 opted out of the recreational side of the cannabis industry but still allow for medical marijuana operations.
Edmund DeVeaux, president of the New Jersey CannaBusiness Association, told the USA Today Network that something similar had happened in states like California and Colorado. Over time however many municipalities had reversed their decisions.
