Amidst the confusion of New Jersey’s much anticipated regulated adult-use cannabis marketplace, are the regulations that govern a municipality’s right to determine whether or not to permit the operation of cannabis businesses within their borders. 

Under the Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act (CREAMMA), a municipality may prohibit or allow the operation of one or more of the six classes of cannabis licenses within its bounds. However, a municipality that denies operations may not prohibit the delivery of cannabis items and related supplies by a licensed delivery service to customers located in the municipality. A municipality choosing to exclude cannabis establishments must do so by enacting an ordinance under the authority provided by CREAMMA. CREAMMA provides municipalities 180 days from its enactment, or until August 21, 2021, to adopt an ordinance prohibiting cannabis operations. Any municipality that does not adopt such an ordinance within this timeframe may not elect to do so for a five-year period thereafter, at which point the 180-day window reopens. Certain municipalities had adopted ordinances prohibiting cannabis establishments prior to February 22, 2021. Pursuant to CREAMMA, these ordinances are null and void, and those municipalities must adopt new ordinances to comply with CREAMMA.