The new Mayor of Jersey City, James Solomon, said a new cannabis reform law is needed to allow lounges while the new Council reviews progress thus far.

At a press conference, Solomon noted the Jersey City Cannabis Control Board (CCB) has not been functioning well.

“We gotta fix the CCB,” he said. “It hasn’t really been functional. It’s left a lot of people to just be in limbo. That’s not acceptable. We have to give them clear guidance.”

“We’re going to talk to the Council about those changes. We’re going to make changes to the current ordinance and legislation, which includes cannabis lounges. And that conversation is really going to be driven by the City Council,” Solomon added.

City Council Grills Commerce Director on Cannabis

The new session of the Jersey City Council has begun with seven out of nine new Councilmembers.

At the first Caucus meeting before their voting Council meeting, Commerce Director Maynard Woodson explained that 54 cannabis license applications were approved by the City Council, and there are 23 legal weed dispensaries in the city.

“Unfortunately, 3 have closed…” he added.

“Is there a schedule for the Cannabis Board?” Ward B Councilperson Joel Brooks asked.

Woodson said it’s supposed to meet once a month. However, he explained there were quite a few months when they didn’t have enough members to meet.

“I thought our cannabis board should have been more discerning… based on the locations and the competition,” Ward C Councilperson Tom Zuppa said. “What’s this Council’s opportunity to reject without the applicant taking legal action?”

“The Council can take into consideration whatever they wish..,” Acting Corporation Counsel Brittany Murray said. “…We can’t guarantee somebody might not sue us…”

Ward E Councilperson Elena Little was curious about a new dispensary in her downtown ward being approved.

“This is saying there are already 8 approved for Ward E…,” she said.

Woodson noted it was grandfathered in since they applied before the imposed cap on new applications.

Dispensary Caps and Sustainability

“Technically, we could get up to 67,” Murray said regarding the real cap on Jersey City dispensaries.

“You moved the goal posts… You can’t penalize the people who applied…,” Ward F Councilperson Frank “Educational” Gilmore said. “People are going out of business.”

He liked the idea of 8 per ward in the 6 wards of the city.

“There’s no way these businesses are going to be able to sustain,” Gilmore argued.

Ward D Councilperson Jake Ephros lamented red tape hurting some applicants.

“We’ve been very efficiency with multiple applications processing,” Woodson said.

He also blamed the state-level Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC).

At Large Councilperson Rolando Lavarro wanted to know how much cannabis tax revenue has been collected.

“We’ve collected $980,000… since 2024,” Woodson said.

“Do we maintain a distance between cannabis shops?” At Large Councilperson Mamta Singh asked.

Murray said some applied at the same time, and few were penalized for falling behind in the process.

“We did have several lawsuits….,” Murray noted.

“We need … new laws,” Singh said.

Initially, Woodson noted there were three cannabis resolutions for two dispensaries and a delivery service initially on the agenda to be passed.

But Acting Business Administrator Peter Horton noted the applications would be pushed to the next meeting to give the Council more time to understand the issues.

Jersey City Weed Issues

Jersey City has been one of the few places in the state that says it will allow cannabis lounges.

It took months to impose a dispensary and lounge cap in the last session of the City Council. While many dispensaries are allowed, the cap limits cannabis lounges in the city to one per ward.

Dispensaries will likely be helped by the new anti-intoxicating hemp law that says smoke shops and convenience stores need to stop selling it before 4/20/206.*

The dispensaries that have closed already are Blossom and the Ice-T-owned Medicine Woman on Tonnelle Avenue, and JC Element was in the Heights.

Legal NJ Cannabis Lounge Issues

Three NJ cannabis consumption lounges opened in South Jersey last year in July 2025. Sunnytien and High Rollers in Atlantic City opened dueling Boardwalk Empire style night clubs on opposite ends of the Boardwalk. In addition, the comfy, basement-like hideout of Gynsyng in Merchantville in Camden County opened as well.

But no legal lounges are open in Central or North Jersey.

However, Jersey did beat Massachusetts in opening legal cannabis lounges since their adult-use cannabis market is older.

Cannabis consumption lounges remain a controversial and unexplored territory across the American state legal cannabis markets.