NEW JERSEY — There still isn’t anywhere to legally buy recreational weed in New Jersey. But things are getting closer, officials say.
New Jersey approved conditional licenses for 68 cannabis growers and manufacturers on Thursday, a step that officials called “monumental” for the state’s burgeoning legal marijuana industry.
The companies are the first recreational cannabis business applications to get the greenlight in the state of New Jersey since voters legalized the drug in November 2020. Eighteen are for manufacturing businesses and 60 are for cultivation facilities, according to the state Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC).
The commission also noted that 37 of the applicants said they are certified “diversely-owned businesses.” Among those with majority stake in each business, 33 have identified themselves as Black, nine as Latino(a), and four as Asian, officials said.
Learn more about the qualification process here. The full list of the approved applications is available here.
CRC executive director Jeff Brown said the move is a major step towards opening the recreational cannabis market.
“We are on our way,” Brown said. “The first cohort of recreational cannabis entrepreneurs has been approved and we will be working with them to get them ready for annual licensing and to begin operations.”
The commission began accepting recreational applications from growers and manufacturers in December. It started taking applications for class 5 retail licenses – including dispensaries – on March 15; no official announcement has been made about those applications as of Friday.
WHEN WILL RECREATIONAL SALES START?
New Jersey voters approved recreational cannabis in a landmark November 2020 ballot question. Now, adults 21 and over are allowed to consume cannabis on private property. Similar to New Jersey’s alcohol laws, it’s still illegal to smoke or consume marijuana in a public place, such as a park or the beach. Read More: 5 Things You Need To Know About Marijuana Legalization In NJ
While it’s legal to possess small amounts of weed in New Jersey, there still isn’t any place for Garden State residents to legally purchase cannabis … unless they’re registered patients with the state medical marijuana program.
Medical marijuana dispensaries are allowed to sell recreational cannabis under state’s law, but have to prioritize their patients, who have been complaining about a chronic lack of supply for years. Read More: New Jersey Marijuana Patients Need Lower Prices, More Weed
Some news outlets and advocates expected the CRC to give clearance for several medical dispensaries to begin recreational sales on Thursday. But that never happened for a simple reason, Brown explained: there still isn’t enough weed.
“We may not be 100 percent there today, but I assure you we will get there,” Brown said. “We have a few things to address and when we address them, I’m happy to return to this body with a further update.”
Reached for comment about the delay, a CRC spokesperson provided Patch with the following update on Friday:
“A date for market opening has never been announced. The NJ-CRC is committed to opening the market when, as required by law, patients will be adequately protected and prioritized, and regulatory compliance is secured. As the executive director outlined on Thursday, the NJ-CRC will be devoting significant resources over the coming weeks to working with the medicinal cannabis industry to fix deficiencies in their expansion plans and will be conducting on-site assessments as part of that process.”
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