Elizabeth, NJ Public Conduct: Public Marijuana Use (2026)

Chapter 8.70 targets both the sale and the public use of cannabis and intoxicating hemp products. Section 8.70.020(A) makes it unlawful to display or advertise cannabis, cannabis paraphernalia, intoxicating hemp products, or their paraphernalia in any way visible from outside a premises, whether through signage, exterior windows, or display boxes, and bars selling or distributing those products, even for free or at minimal cost, anywhere other than a cannabis business licensed under N.J.S.A. 24:6I-31 et seq. and Chapter 5.26 of the City Code. Section 8.70.020(B) then reaches consumption directly, prohibiting it in any public or private establishment not specifically licensed for cannabis consumption.

Section 8.70.010 defines CBD and THC as the psychoactive substances behind the 'high' from smoking marijuana, and separately defines 'intoxicating hemp product' by cross-reference to N.J.S.A. 24:6I-33, covering Delta-8 and Delta-10 THC products that exceed the state's concentration limit. The chapter was substantially rewritten by Ordinance No. 6107 on March 11, 2025, which added the consumption ban to what had originally been a sale-and-marketing-only prohibition adopted by Ordinance No. 5856 in 2023.