Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

We have spoken out against stigmatizing cannabis and cannabis users and provided critical support for permitting regulated dispensaries to open and operate in our community in the face of organized opposition.

We supported state-regulated dispensaries because we knew they would provide adults the benefits of access to legal products that are in great demand and enjoyed by their customers. We stated that these adult-use products would generate new streams of tax revenues to offset future City tax increases in tough fiscal times.

At that time, Councilmember Tiffanie Fisher and her current running-mate, Liz Urtecho, fought to banish these businesses to the periphery of our city, stoking fear that unsavory elements would be attracted to new, scary dispensaries, which would irreparably harm our city.

Now that four dispensaries are open and operating in Hoboken, it is clear that Tiffanie and Liz’s fear-mongering and dire predictions were based on nothing more than a “reefer madness”/“war on drugs”mentality — the same propaganda that led to the wrongful incarceration of untold numbers of cannabis users for decades — a mentality overwhelmingly rejected by 84% of Hobokenites who voted to legalize cannabis in the State.

When responsible leaders realize they are wrong, after baselessly stoking fear and division, they acknowledge their mistakes, embrace reality, and move on. But Tiffanie and Liz have doubled down.

Recently, the New Jersey Appellate Division turned aside Liz’s misguided, and largely self-funded legal crusade against two small business owners, Max and Lauren Thompson, when the Appellate Division allowed the business owners to continue lawfully operating their Blue Violets dispensary at 628 Washington St.

Blue Violets has operated as a good neighbor in our community since April 2024, after securing all necessary State and local approvals. The Appellate Division ruling was a victory for fairness — protecting a local business whose owners followed the rules and invested their life savings — despite Tiffanie and Liz’s stoking community fear and demonizing the business and its supporters.

Rather than accept defeat and move on, Tiffanie’s running-mate Liz (with Tiffanie’s 100% support) appealed the well-reasoned, unanimous Appellate Division decision to the New Jersey Supreme Court! Tiffanie and Liz continue creating more uncertainty, more legal fees, and more harassment for responsible members of Hoboken’s business community.

In the past, we’ve attempted to defend small business owners through a proposed ordinance change to clarify our long-held intent that new cannabis rules apply prospectively only, and do not undermine folks who applied at a time when their use was allowed. Tiffanie and Liz have instead used the courts to push their agenda.

At our Council meeting this Wednesday, citing the Appellate Division’s decision, we will try once more — via an ordinance we are co-sponsoring — to make crystal clear what we have always believed to be true — that successful applicants who make timely applications to Hoboken’s Cannabis Review Board cannot have their approvals stripped away when politicians enact new zoning hurdles for future dispensaries. We encourage members of the community to come out September 17th and support these valued businesses and support our ordinance.

We are glad Blue Violets and other responsible dispensaries offer new adult-use products in great demand, and generate critical tax revenues for our City. Now’s the time for Tiffanie and Liz to support our ordinance, stop the misinformation and fearmongering, and finally let Hoboken’s approved dispensaries operate in peace.

Phil Cohen, Council Vice President
Joe Quintero, Councilman-at-Large