Dequan Cedenobecame the first person to make a purchase and Hudson County's first recreational cannabis dispensary obviously it makes this you know Street safer is exactly what we want is exactly how we want people purchasing cannabis um you know again you know there's a process to get here but we're here and I'm glad that these guys can make it happen the location in Secaucus is harmony dispensary's latest facility to enter the recreational markets after adult use sales began last April we look to to really get and and focus on the communities that we're in um we understand that a lot of businesses are getting in and trying to open up we help a lot of businesses get there and uh we guide them through the process who we can um we definitely see setting an example for people to follow but not only an example to follow but also assisting others and getting there others like Lauren Chang Thompson and her husband Max who are just miles away in Hoboken and excited about opening their dispensary blue violets we're very small mom and pop it's we're only going to be about 800 square feet and we want to focus on tarpenes terpenes are the essential oils that are actually in all Botanical life whether it be cannabis whether it be eucalyptus whether it be lavender any sort of plant material anything that you smell is actually more or less attributed to their essential oils which is also called terpenes nearly two years after starting the process to open their dispensary the couple became the first recreational Cannabis applicants to receive full approval from both the states and the City of Hoboken but plans to open the doors are now on hold currently we're being sued unfortunately our local approval is being challenged by a couple people in town so they're suing us and the city and so we're still navigating that process figuring out what that means for us it unfortunately means we have to pay lawyers so that's where our financial focus is right now this suit is being filed by the group Hoboken for responsible cannabis members declined an interview but issued a statement saying in part blue violets violates the common sense cannabis regulations which state that a cannabis dispensary can't be within 600 feet of primary schools blue violence is 250 feet away from two schools HRC supports blue Violet's business plan and is offered to help them identify a new location that is consistent with hoboken's laws we had kind of expected it a little bit because the people that are suing us were making it very difficult throughout the entire process so for months they had been following us for our meetings and complaining about our location and complaining about cannabis and Hoboken and so it wasn't a total surprise but it definitely like when we got the lawsuit we noticed it was actually filed yeah it's stressful right we had already committed so much we had gotten our approvals and now we realize we have to do even more spend even more money more time and more stress for something we felt we had already done it it's frustrating the lawsuit was scheduled to be heard in court yesterday but got pushed to July leaving the Thompsons to figure out what comes next it's a little bit about figuring out you know how much money do we have and what can we do on our own just cut some of that cost and just take things one day at a time which is what we've been doing this whole time but the couple says they won't give up the fights and are determined to make their dream of opening up their cannabis dispensary a reality soon for NJ Spotlight news I'm Melissa Rose Cooper [Music]