The council also voted to raise parking charges, cut funding for street cleaning and lighting and leave the city's parks unlocked and unattended overnight.
Alexandria on the northern Mediterranean coast is to become the country's first no smoking city, beginning with a ban on lighting up in government buildings.
When Washington became the first U.S. state to legalize recreational pot possession earlier this month, scores of Seattle residents gathered to celebrate by lighting up in public places across the city.
Ghattas said that authorities remained hopeful the number of visitor bookings would recover so pilgrims could enjoy the city's planned events, which included a Christmas tree lighting ceremony on December 15, and a choral festival before midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.