The celebrity Ice-T’s Medicine Woman dispensary in Jersey City closed less than 12 months after opening.

They opened with a lot of fanfare and press from mainstream and other cannabis media outlets during the 2025 4/20/Easter holiday weekend. It was a fun party with music and a big crowd that seemed to enjoy the great festivities.

Last October 2025, they did a promotion with Dime Industries, a small Multi-State Operator (MSO) vape maker that recently entered dispensaries in Jersey.

Technically, Ice-T was only a partial owner of the Medicine Woman dispensary. The others included a former Playboy Playmate and her husband, an underground legacy to legal operator from Southern California, and others.

Their first location remains open in Southern California.

Hashstoria dispensary of Newark, owned by Raekwon of Wu-Tang Clan and Charlamagne Tha God-owned didn’t last 12 months either.

They might have had high property costs, which Heady NJ heard hurt Hashstoria.

A wealthy owner probably was not happy with a low Return On Investment (ROI), one way or another. Many humble NJ entrepreneurs staff their stores and keep expenses low. They might also be more passionate about running their own stores versus a Hollywood career.

Complaints about quality and price continue to hurt the legal NJ adult-use cannabis market. In addition, many might prefer hemp weed smoke shops.

Location Location Location

Unfortunately, it was in a bad location on Tonnelle Avenue in Jersey. Green Stop Wellness and Kush Klub dispensaries were before them on the Northbound side.

Distance has been a problem that many cannabis businessmen and policy experts have noted is a significant issue for years now.

The Indian woman owned Blossom dispensary, which was on Tonnelle Avenue after the Medicine Woman, closed first. The local, Hispanic-owned JC Element in the Heights neighborhood of Jersey City has closed too.

That neighborhood still has Leaf Joint, Lifted Vision, Benedict’s Supply, Uforia, and the Other Side dispensaries open last time Heady NJ checked. That is in addition to smoke shops.

Those dispensaries are owned and operated by local, legacy to legal, Black, Hispanic, and female entrepreneurs.

Zero-sum games are not fun.

The story is a stark contrast to dispensaries that have fewer competitors around them, fewer smoke shops, and fewer underground legacy competitors, according to Heady NJ’s industry sources.

Ice-T and Weed

The intial celebrity fueld opening hype, unfortunately, did not lead to sufficient customer growth.

Ice T isn’t really known for weed, though. He told Forbes Magazine that he doesn’t even smoke weed, although he did sell some in High School.

While he isn’t from Jersey City, Ice-T told the Jersey City Cannabis Control Board (CCB) during the dispensary hearing that he did partially grow up in North Jersey and has lived in Edgewater in Bergen County nearby while filming Law & Order.

While a celebrity might wow the canna curious and normies, Heady NJ has seen several in the cannabis community who are not impressed by any of them.

Jersey City and Cannabis

Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop previously noted that he expected some dispensaries to fail. He argued the market is more equitable than some towns that embody the worst of Jersey’s culture of shadiness.

Removing barriers to entry does indeed increase the great competitiveness of the market.

Efforts to prevent new applicants from getting into the market have since been made in Jersey City. After great delays, a dispensary license cap was imposed. However, they settled on 48 plus everyone who had been approved by then.

In addition, the CCB became more reluctant over time to approve new ones. It also stopped meeting after several resignations.

Ward E Councilman James Solomon will be taking office as the new Mayor of Jersey City next week with a friendly City Council. So, they will have the power to reform the CCB and the Commerce Department.