The NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJCRC) held what was likely the last meeting of Commissioner Charles Barker, reviewed medical cannabis issues, approved 33 licenses, and discussed other issues.
Commissioner Charles Barker’s Last Meeting
Barker was given time to speak at the beginning of the meeting since he’s being replaced.

He has been the most outspoken Commissioner by far since the NJCRC was launched in 2021.
“I want to thank you all. This very well might be my last in-person meeting. I really, really want to thank the people watching. And let us know of your concerns. It’s been a … real pleasure to serve you. I thank the Administration, my fellow colleagues,” Barker said.
“It has truly been an honor. Excited for future opportunities to come. Take care everybody, and God bless,” he declared to applause.
Praise from Fellow NJCRC Commissioners
“We are grateful for the time Commissioner Barker served on the Commission. We will savor the moments that remain,” NJCRC Chair Dianna Houenou said.
“You and I have been at the opposite ends of policies. I’ve made a friend for life,” Vice Chair Sam Delgado said.
“We’ve had similar policy ideas. It was a pleasure working with you,” Commissioner Maria Del Cid-Kosso said.
“I love someone who has the passion he has and speaks up for uh people that may not have a voice. That’s really important in this industry,” Commissioner Krista Nash said. “Sometimes we have to be called out on things we need to do better. Charles did a good job of doing that.”
Perhas too good.
“Who better than someone who is a Person of Color, a Black man? I’m so glad you were able to serve for the time that you did,” Nash added.
“Thank you for your service to the State of New Jersey,” Acting Executive Director Christopher Riggs said.
“You and I have found ourselves on opposite sides of issues. But we also found ourselves on the same side of some very pointed manners where we felt very strongly we trying to push the industry in the right direction. I thank you for your patience,” Houenou said.
“I wish you all the best.” she added to applause.
Houenou said they weren’t sure how long it would take to officially replace him.
Public Praise for Barker
During public comment, noted cannabis businessman advocate Leo Bridgewater protested Barker being replaced. He noted Barker’s record working for Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) on federal marijuana legalization.
“The fact that there will no longer be a Black man on this commission I find to be extremely offensive, culturally offensive, and tone deaf,” Bridgewater exclaimed.
Cannabis patient advocate Sam Reichbart also praised Barker.
“Thank you for standing up for the little guy. Thank you for being the only person on the CRC who cares for patients. You’re the only one who made me feel heard,” he said.
Edward “Lefty” Grimes of Sativa Cross praised Barker for acknowledging his disabled access concerns.
NJ Medical Cannabis Program Issues Reviewed
Houenou noted they are holding clinics to register medical patients and renew them in November.

Riggs said there are now 70,544 official New Jersey medical cannabis patients now.
At the height, there were about 125,000 patients.
Del Cid-Kosso said they are working on creating Institutional Caregivers for the medical cannabis program.
They met with the Department of Health, which oversees nursing homes, hospitals, and other issues.
“We’ve identified some legal hurdles we still need to resolve,” she explained.
“I’m thrilled we’ve having these long overdue discussions,” Del Cid-Kosso added. “We must engage caregivers and facilities in these initial conversations.”
Private Medical Cannabis Roundtables Reviewed
Barker said they hosted private roundtables with medical cannabis stakeholders. He explained their invitation-only resulted in very poor attendance. So, they want to allow more people in the future.
“We hear time and time again patients cannot afford their medicine,” he noted. “We discussed the discounts being offered.”
Barker said some are better than others.
He also explained that some medical cannabis companies want to be allowed more locations or be able to grow. Barker explained a business owner complained about the high prices as well.
He also noted a medical cannabis patient criticized dispensary clerks or budtenders’ lack of knowledge.
During the public comment period, Reichbart criticized the exclusionary nature of the meeting’s invitation process.
“You held round tables where you denied most of us, many of us the most passionate people in this state,” he declared.
Conditional License Winners
Riggs explained that the companies were examined thoroughly through a very lengthy process to win a New Jersey cannabis license needed to operate legally. He noted they were going to approve 2 Distributors and a Wholesaler.
The following companies won:
1 E-Quality Cannabis Cultivator Standard
2 We the Best NJ LLC Cultivator Standard
3 Access Green LLC Distributor Standard
4 Blizzy Bakd L.L.C. Distributor Standard
5 All In One P7 LLC Retailer Microbusiness
6 Forever Green Dispensary LLC Retailer Microbusiness
7 Lushly LLC Retailer Microbusiness
8 Prolific Growhouse Retailer Microbusiness
9 Satica Retailer Microbusiness
10 Botanical Bliss Inc. Retailer Standard
11 Carma Consulting Company Retailer Standard
12 Golden Flower Dispensary LLC Retailer Standard
13 MAKNJ Holdings Retailer Standard
14 Pine Beach Operations Retailer Standard
15 The Skunk Father Retailer Standard
16 Access Green LLC Wholesaler Standard
The NJCRC approved them 5-0.
Conversion License Winners
Riggs explained the conversion to an annual license process was similar for those who wanted the annual license process needed to open. That process included an investigation of their finances and personnel.
1 Garden River Inc Cultivator Standard
2 MB1 Industries LLC Cultivator Standard
3 Weedies Delivery Standard
4 Garden River Inc Manufacturer Standard
5 Notum New Jersey Inc Manufacturer Standard
6 Muncheez n Stuff LLC Retailer Microbusiness
7 GreenStop Wellness LLC Retailer Standard
The NJCRC approved them 5-0.
One was considered separately because Nash has a professional relationship with someone in the company:
8 Triple G Farms OZ LLC Manufacturer Standard
The NJCRC approved them 4-0.
Annual License Winners
Riggs explained that applications for straight annual
1 Indigo Dispensary LLC Cultivator Standard
2 Emunio Logistics Inc Distributor Standard
3 Altoz Corporation Manufacturer Standard
5 High Life Cannabis Dispensary Retailer Standard
6 Zen Leaf Mount Holly, LLC Retailer Standard
7 Sunrise Clinical Lab LLC Testing Standard
8 Emunio Logistics Inc Wholesaler Standard
The NJCRC approved them 5-0.
Expanded ATC License Winners
Next, Riggs noted 2 medical Alternative Treatment Centers (ATCs) want to sell adult-use cannabis too. He recommended approving both.
- Acreage CCF New Jersey 35 Crescent Blvd., Collingswood, New Jersey Class 5 Cannabis Retailer
- Aunt Mary’s Dispensary LLC 7 Veronica Ave., Franklin Twp., New Jersey Class 1 Cannabis Cultivator
The NJCRC approved both 4-0, with Barker abstaining in two separate votes.
Intoxicating Hemp Complications
Houenou noted the court case on intoxicating hemp after Governor Phil Murphy signed the bill into law.
“The new law made immediately made it unlawful to sell or distribute a product intended for human consumption with THC in any detectable amount to anyone under 21,” she said.
Houenou said the sales ban was supposed to take place this past weekend.
“Due to a court order issued on October 10th … the State is unable to begin enforcing these provisions,” she noted.
So intoxicating hemp products remain for sale.
Houenou noted the minor ban is in effect.
“The court’s decision is still being reviewed and the comm will provide updates,” she added.
Green Medicine Fined
Riggs explained they want to fine Green Medicine for selling contaminated cannabis that they recalled.
“We issued a recall of those lot and batch numbers that were potentially compromised,” he said.
“This is not something I take lightly, having bugs in the products. Should be treated to reflect the disgusting nature that it is,” Houenou declared.
She thought they should fine them $7,000.
“It looks like the business did make a good faith effort to correct the issue,” Houenou noted. “There was an entire room that needed to be destroyed, that had plants.”
“This is not acceptable,” she declared sternly.
Houenou said only 1 of 14 samples of Green Medicine products passed a lab test inspection.
“It does a risk of harm to the health of consumers,” she argued.
“It really shouldn’t be happening in this industry,” Del Cid-Kosso said. “We try to avoid that… in the food we consume. We need to make sure the products are clean.”
The NJCRC approved the fine 5-0.
Quarterly Data on New Jersey Cannabis Sales and Prices
Riggs said more than 170 New Jersey cannabis dispensaries are now open.
He noted the increased sales of adult-use cannabis.
“The market is still growing. Sales are going up,” Riggs explained.
He also noted prices have declined. He said they are down 14 percent from last year.

Many cannabis consumer advocates have wanted to that badly for years.
Riggs said cannabis flower remain the most popular after vape sales while edibles sales are stagnant despite new products.

NJCRC License Ownership Demographic Data Progress
“New Jersey’s cannabis industry stands as a model of what inclusion and opportunity can look like,” Director of Diversity and Inclusion Wesley McWhite III declared. “Our policies reflect the values of fairness, ensuring that small businesses and historically under-served and under-represented communities have a real shot at success.”
He said many minority owned conditionals licenses are converting to annual licenses needed to open.
McWhite went into detail on diverse ownership.

He broke down license awards in general by county too.

He said they are more than meeting their goals.
McWhite also said that the numbers are far above the national state-legal cannabis market statistics.


Houenou was pleased with the progress.
“I think we can do better. You add operational business owners. There’s 5 minority categories. You can add up every percentage, and it’s still less than the majority White representation in this industry,” Barker argued.
He wanted the industry to be majority-owned by minorities.
“To your credit, the numbers have been increasing,” Barker said to McWhite. “I do believe we can do better.”
“We legalized because people were in prison! We didn’t legalize because people were needing new business opportunities, or because of the population!” Barker exclaimed.
It depends on who you ask.
“We legalized because certain groups were imprisoned. Sadly, people are still in prison!” he declared. I am hoping we continue to operationalize more Black and Brown businesses, more native American, native businesses.”
While there has been legitimate progress, many cannabis industry experts and advocates think a lot of owners listed on license application papers are fronts or pawns of the real owners. The NJCRC prioritized minority and women-owned licenses in processing, which incentivized applicants.
Ownership Changes
Riggs said 4 companies wanted new ownership changes:
- Acreage CCF New Jersey LLC-transfer of ownership
- Altius NJ -Change in Ownership Structure
- Hamilton Farms-Change in Ownership Structure
- Nova Farms Woodbury -Change in Ownership Structure.
Houenou thought 2 more companies wanted changes.
Riggs said NJ Green Care and Denver Cole Farms also wanted to make changes.
The NJCRC approved the changes 4-0-1 with Barker abstaining again.
Annual NJ Cannabis License Renewed
Riggs explained that 7 companies needed their annual licenses renewed.
There’s a reason they’re called annual.
The following companies were up:
- Voltaire
- Royal M
- Hashery
- High Street Dispensary
- Mass Grown
- Anja Life
- Honey Grove
The NJCRC approved them 4-0-1 with Barker abstaining.
Independent Study of the NJCRC
Delgado said state law says they must have a college study them.

Rutgers, Rowan University, and the New Jersey Institute of Technology NJIT applied. NJIT won the most points.
So, they won the contract in a 4-0-1 vote with Barker abstaining.
Unlike Rutgers and Rowan, NJIT has no cannabis education program.
New Jersey Cannabis Training Academy Launched
Houenou noted the launch of the New Jersey Cannabis Training Academy (NJ-CTA) yesterday.
She explained they have been working with NJ Business Action Center (NJBAC) to help struggling or inexperienced cannabis entrepreneurs.
“It’s been a long road. New Jersey’s first cannabis technical education program is now live and open for registration. People are going through it now,” NJBAC Deputy Executive Director Penni Wild said.
She noted many advocates and government officials have been pushing for this for a while.
NJ-CTA Executive Director Tauhid Chappell said the program will educate people about the NJ cannabis industry and the application process.
“We’re offering over 60 courses that will help inform people about the myriad of necessary docus, forms, and necessary steps,” he explained. “This is an online no cost program you can pick up any time.”
Wild added there will be live Q&As.
“As the rules change… we’ll be able to hold webinars,” she noted.
“We are open for business. Thank you,” Wild declared to applause.