To the Editor:

By now many readers of Town Topics may have heard of the Princeton Cannabis Task Force, which includes three members out of the six on the town Council. There have been several articles about their initiatives, and many reactions from people in town surprised at the rapid and aggressive direction they have been taking. They have not been in alignment with the majority of town residents or the PPS Board of Education. 

For example, they have been sticking to a recommendation that we should open up to three cannabis dispensaries in town, and that they need only be 200 feet away from schools, with no setbacks required for child care centers, houses of worship, or drug treatment centers. This stands as the most aggressive position in the state of New Jersey.

I encourage the Town Council members involved: Eve Niedergang, who leads the effort, Michelle Pirone Lambros, and Leticia Fraga to consider the example of Westfield, New Jersey. Westfield voted largely in favor of decriminalization, similar to Princeton’s voting percentages on the state marijuana decriminalization referendum. However, Westfield’s town government took a thoughtful approach and actually surveyed the town’s people about whether they wanted local dispensaries. Not surprisingly, 57 percent of Westfield residents did not want dispensaries. Westfield’s local government decided to opt out since there were “too many unknowns” at this time.

Some have speculated that the cannabis industry consultants involved in Princeton’s Cannabis Task Force have influenced the town’s aggressive approach. Regardless of what is driving the town Council members’ involvement, they need to hear from residents on this issue that they are not in alignment with town residents or the town’s educational institutions.

Grace Zhang
Hemlock Circle