Five out-of-state cannabis corporations that are Multi-State Operators (MSOs) were fined $360,000 for adult-use cannabis sales during patient-only hours.
Curaleaf, GTI Rise, Verano Zen Leaf, Acreage’s the Botanist, and Ascend were all fined several thousand dollars. They enact most of the New Jersey medical and adult-use cannabis sales in the state.
Patient Hours Fines
It was “to the detriment of the medicinal patient population,” NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJCRC) Executive Director Jeff Brown said in a letter dated May 13th obtained by Bloomberg News. It was a private letter that Bloomberg requested from the government.
The fines date from April 21st to April 29th of this year.
The State fined them $10,000 a day for each day they broke the rule. They fined Verano $90,000 for nine days of breaking the rule according to Benzinga. The State fined GTI and Ascend $80,000. They fined Acreage $60,000. The State only fined Curaleaf $50,000
The medical cannabis companies had to agree to patient-only hours were to sell adult-use cannabis.
Medical cannabis patient advocates were wary of the switch from medical cannabis only to adult-use cannabis sales. They feared the medical cannabis corporation would ignore patients.
Adult-use Cannabis Sales Issues
The NJCRC went to some lengths to ensure this would not happen by ensuring patient-only hours, exclusive patient products, and preferential patient parking.
These corporations have been selling sub-par overpriced medical cannabis. They were very eager to enter to begin adult-use cannabis selling. That is in spite of contributing a negligible amount of money to the 2020 adult-use cannabis legalization referendum campaign. Several of the MSOs sought to get the public behind their desire to make more money from adult-use cannabis sales.
Those who want affordable cannabis in a market not dominated by a handful of corporations from out of state were also not eager for the New Jersey adult-use cannabis sales to begin.
