Amelia Mapp made her debut at a very short NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJCRC) meeting as a Commissioner replacing social justice champion Charles Barker while there was significant public comment and 10 new licenses approved.
Plus, they approved 10 new NJ cannabis licenses.
There was no mention that Barker had been replaced nor any well wishes after 4 years of service. Mapp did not give anything resembling a speech.
His absence at their February meeting was notable. He also did not co-chair a recent CRC town hall on spending cannabis tax money.
It’s unclear what Mapp’s qualifications are besides loyalty to NJ Senate President Nick Scutari (D-22-Union), who hates legalizing homegrow, among other issues. Her official biography is very short.
It seems she has the job by association with her husband, Adrian Mapp, who is the pro-cannabis Mayor of Plainfield in Scutari’s district.
The news that the State of New Jersey wanted Barker replaced was announced last September 2024.
Barker is off the CRC’s website while there is no picture of Mapp yet.
(Heady NJ would like to thank Mr. Barker for his service to the NJ cannabis community and industry and wishes him the best.)
MSO Curaleaf Worker Denounces Company During Comment Period
During the public comment period, Van Ryker said he wanted to hold the large corporate Multi-State Operator (MSO) Curaleaf accountable for their 2023 adult-use cannabis license renewal. He noted there was an emergency meeting to reinstate their license after it was not renewed.
So Curaleaf worked the NJ State House one way or another successfully.
Shortly after winning their renewal, despite ongoing labor issues, they laid off their cultivation workers.
Ryker noted their license renewal denial was over labor union contract issues.
“Curaleaf has not demonstrated good faith in these negotiations. Particularly by holding our pay increases hostage,” he declared.
“We have yet to reach any agreement with Curaleaf, resulting in years of stagnation,” Ryker explained.
“When you stated we value people over profits, it resonated deeply. Unfortunately, this stands in stark contrast to Curaleaf’s actions,” he exclaimed.
MSO Cannabist Wants to Sell Adult-use Cannabis in May’s Landing
Senior Counsel and Vice President of the MSO Columbia Care /Cannabist Kellie Rivera wanted their May’s Landing/Hamilton Township dispensary approved for adult-use cannabis sales at the next CRC meeting in April.
“We opened this site for medical sales in May’s Landing in December. After successfully demonstrating cannabis sales to our patients for over 30 days at the site, we submitted a complete ATC application,” she said.
Rivera argued they have been waiting for 2 months.
They also have a Labor Peace Agreement (LPA) with a labor union, which was an issue in the past.
“We are having to turn away hundreds of adult use consumers that are seeking a safe testing and regulated cannabis products,” she said.
Rivera also said there are not many other dispensary options nearby.
Medical Issues and Cannabis Testing Standards
“I’m looking forward to the upcoming medical town halls and encouraging all stakeholders to apply,” leading cannabis activist Andrea Raible said.
She also liked that the first stage of the new cannabis testing lab rules will go into effect tomorrow.
Raible was eager to know more about a proposed state cannabis reference lab to maintain standards checked by the licensed cannabis labs.
She explained she led a secret shopper test, which found mold and bacteria in prerolls along with inflated levels of THC. It is what many consumers think is the only thing that gets you high, while other cannabinoids and terpenes contribute as well.
“This limited data points to a larger problem we hope to resolve,” Raible explained.
She said they want to work with license holders.
“NJ-CRC’s Compliance and Investigation team carries out regular inspections at every licensed cannabis facility and responds to every complaint about product labeling and testing. We will be looking into this matter, and we will be taking action wherever we find regulatory violations,” Riggs said in a statement emailed to Heady NJ. “The NJ-CRC is committed to public safety. Our new testing guidelines are now in effect, and we are working with other State agencies to assist with oversight of testing laboratories.”
Thomas Norcia of the NJ Hemp Growers Association and GrowWorksNJ also complained about them not enforcing hemp laws.
NJCRC Chair Dianna Houenou said at the Benzinga industry conference they have limited authority to enforce the NJ intoxicating hemp law because of an ongoing lawsuit.
Conversion to Annual NJ Cannabis License Winners
Executive Director Christopher Riggs explained that some conditional license applicants won conversion to the annual licenses needed to open.
He explained that license application process. It’s a lengthy procedure that includes many steps like reviewing company owners.
The following companies won:
1 Baked Goodz Retailer Microbusiness
2 Kreme of the Pot Retailer Microbusiness
3 Loud House Retailer Microbusiness
4 Axis Wellness LLC Retailer Standard
5 Best Budz NJ Retailer Standard
6 HoneyStash LLC Retailer Standard
7 RPI Partners Retailer Standard
8 Seaweed Express Retailer Standard
9 The Next Chapter Market Retailer Standard
They were approved 5-0 without Barker’s periodic dissent.
Standard retailer Enclave Market LLC was considered separately since Mapp was recused “due to an ongoing professional relationship.”
They were approved 4-0 by the other NJCRC Commissioners.
It was notable there were no conditional licenses approved.
They were supposed to help license applicants. Several conditional applicants told Heady NJ they do not believe they were not prioritized over annual licenses which opened first. Many others cannot find the friendly town, land or money needed to make progress.
Annual NJ Cannabis License Winners
Only one license was up for a standard annual NJ cannabis license.
Hudson Distribution Services, LLC
The NJCRC approved them 5-0 without dissent after Amelia Mapp had technical problems.
NJ Adult-use Cannabis License Renewals
The NJCRC then had 58 New Jersey adult-use cannabis licenses to review for renewal.
Riggs noted two were up for their first-year renewal:
- Silver Leaf Wellness LLC (1)
- Theo A. Cannabis LLC (1)
He added they needed to keep all their paperwork up to date with the CRC to ease the annual license renewal process.
The rest were up for their 2nd annual NJ cannabis license renewal:
- Curaleaf NJ II (5)
- Acreage CCF (4)
- Columbia Care (4)
- GTI New Jersey LLC (4)
- TerrAscend NJ (4)
- Verano NJ (4)
- MPX New Jersey LLC (3)
- Creative Flavors by Esther (2)
- Garden Society NJ LLC (1)
- Green Haven Industries (1)
- Nova Farms Woodbury (1)
- Sweetspot Dispensary (1)
- Jersey Smooth LLC (1)
- Sea & Leaf (1)
- Holistic Solutions (1)
- Valley Wellness (1)
- Doobiez LLC (1)
- Earth & Ivy (1)
- Andover Cannabis LLC (1)
- CREAM Retail Dispensary (1)
- Enlighten Health & Wellness (1)
- One Green Leaf LLC (1)
- The Happy Farmer (1)
- Blue Harvest (1)
- Herbalicity (1)
- FullTilt Labs LLC (1)
- Citi Roots LLC (1)
- RushBudz Dispensary LLC (1)
- Nirvana Dispensary (1)
- G2 Dispensary LLC (1)
- Premo Cannabis Company LLC (1)
- Midnight Greens LLC (1)
- Sussex Cultivation LLC (1)
- Floro Evesham (1)
The NJCRC approved the 58 renewals without discussion or dissent 5-0.
