The Family First March Stimulates Awareness about the New Cannabis Law — Click on photos to enlarge

Press Release

PERTH AMBOY, NJ – Towns in New Jersey are on a tight deadline to either Opt Out its municipality from allowing Cannabis to be sold, produced, or manufactured in their town or wait 5 years. What started out as a small group of individuals speaking up on the topic of banning Cannabis at their City Council meetings has grown to a larger group which assembled on Cortlandt Street and marched down Hall Avenue and High Street to the Perth Amboy City Hall Circle.

The organizer and community leader, Maria Peralta, was joined by families, residents, and the youth in a peaceful march chanting “Queremos Paz y Seguridad, No queremos Marijuana en la Ciudad,” which resonated with many City Residents who peered out of their homes to watch the march. “A community that stands together cannot be defeated,” said Peralta.

“We had a very successful walk today because it raised awareness in our community that Perth Amboy has a choice when it comes to the topic of legalized recreational marijuana” said Junior Iglesias, a community leader and attendee. “Although marijuana was recently legalized, the same law states that municipalities can decide whether or not marijuana can be manufactured, produced, distributed, or sold in its locality. The right thing to do is to ban it. Why would our town approve it when so many towns are adopting the “wait and see” approach by opting out? We need to speak out and we need to make our voices heard.”

Many participants braved the heat and walked a good distance to have their voices heard. “What we want for our city is what other cities have chosen,” said former City Councilman Fernando Irizarry and a participant of the walk. “As a family town, we want the sale, distribution, and manufacturing of cannabis to be prohibited. We don’t want to compound our local issues by becoming the epicenter for cannabis in the county or the state.”

The event also shed light on concerns on how a manufacturing industry can potentially impact other neighboring towns. “I live in a town next door, but this issue is something that concerns me because I’m not so sure how they [marijuana businesses] are going to operate or regulate their operations here, which is concerning. It will affect other cities as well and I want to make sure our voice can be heard. It is not just people who are City residents here, we all live here, even if I am from another town,” said a walker named Jackie.

Mayor Helmin Caba released a statement informing the residents of Perth Amboy that there will be a special informational summit on Wednesday, June 2nd, 2021 at 7 p.m. at the Perth Amboy High School where residents will be able to listen to a panel on the topic of cannabis and voice their concerns.