NEW MILFORD – The borough is saying no to marijuana for recreational and medical purposes.

This month, the Borough Council is scheduled to approve an ordinance prohibiting businesses dealing with medicinal and recreational cannabis from operating within its borders.

The ordinance also prohibits the operation of medical dispensaries anywhere in the borough.

Mayor Michael Putrino said the ordinance is scheduled to be adopted at the next meeting on Aug. 26. He said residents have not objected to the measure.

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Council President Randi Duffie said the council is in unanimous agreement that the sale of recreational marijuana and dispensing of medicinal cannabis would not be a “good fit for our town at this time.”

“It’s something very new, we have not seen yet the effects that this type of thing would have on a community,” Duffie said. “I think we would prefer to wait and see, and right now it’s absolutely nothing that we want to come to our town.”

New Milford would join numerous northern New Jersey municipalities that have banned sales of recreational, medicinal or both types of marijuana.

Many of those towns acted early this year, as New Jersey was moving closer to allowing anyone 21 and older to buy and use marijuana. However, legalization efforts stalled in the state Legislature. It will instead be up to voters to decide in November 2020.

The state did pass a bill in May to ease access to medical marijuana.

Email: kaulessar@northjersey.com