The NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJ-CRC) issued $102,500 in fines to four companies due to a range of issues, including testing and expiration date concerns.

Chair’s Report on Violations

“Last meeting, the Commission adopted a new way of looking at and examining violations. We did it with an eye toward transparency. In the past, we assessed amorphous numbers for a multitude of violations. And I want to get away from doing that,” NJ-CRC Chair Harris Laufer explained.

“I want the marketplace to know and see what is being violated and what those violations uh, cost operators,” he noted.

“The more information available to the consumer, the better it is,” Laufer declared. “If entities that are violated disagree with their violations, there are a multitude of remedies available to them.”

“We are committed to a transparent and fair process when it comes to adjudicating violations,” he added. “We don’t want to violate entities. We want everybody to play by the rules.”

“…Listen to your compliance officers…,” Laufer added.

“I appreciate the entities that invited me to their facilities. We want to be out in the field. We want to see the industry at work. We want um input from people operating cannabis entities on the ground because we are now allowed to,” he said. “We want to be part of making the industry better.”

Mr. Jones Dispensary Fined $15,000 for Advertising at a Softball Field

NJ-CRC Compliance and Investigations Office Director David Tuason said Mr. Jones dispensary committed several violations since they advertised at a youth softball game.

Vice Chair Jackie Ferraro was recused “due to an ongoing professional relationship.”

“They were cited for 5 separate regulatory and statutory violations,” Tuason said.

Breaking a statutory law is worse than breaking a regulatory rule.

Laufer said they violated the rules since they couldn’t verify it was an audience of those who were 21 plus, which came with a $5,000 fine.

They also advertised without knowing that 71.6 percent of the audience was 21 and older, which didn’t come with a fine.

Laufer noted they also did not have proof that those in attendance who were 21-plus were more than 20 percent of the audience, so there was a fine of $5,000.

It was not an adult-only facility, so that was worth a $2,500 fine. They also failed to keep audience records, which was worth a $2,500 fine.

The total of the fines was $15,000.

The NJ-CRC approved it 4-0 with Ferraro recused.

Mountain Dispensary Fined $10,000 for Improper Ownership Change

Tuason said Mountain Dispensary failed to request an ownership transfer.

Laufer said they added a passive investor without board approval. They also failed to disclose that investor.

“We have processes when it comes to licensing. They’re there for a reason. It allows our agency to perform an accurate probity review and make sure every application is compliant with the law,” he explained. “We value both these violations at $5,000 for a total of $10,000.”

The NJ-CRC approved the $10,000 fine 5-0.

Green Analytics East Lab Fined $65,000 for Improper Testing Methods

Tuason said that Green Analytics East LLC committed several violations by failing to conform to testing standards.

They were cited for 7 separate statutory law and regulatory rule violations.

No working video surveillance was worth a $5,000 fine.

They also lost archived footage and restricted the NJ-CRC’s access, which was worth a fine of $5,000.

Laufer also said they collected 1/3 of the representative sample amount for a fine of $15,000.

They also didn’t comply with sampling standards of products, which resulted in a $15,000 fine.

The 5^th violation was failure to test properly, which was a fine of $5,000.

“They knowingly used the incorrect testing method,” Laufer noted.

He said that was worth a $15,000 fine.

Finally, they didn’t conform to standard protocols, which resulted in a $5,000 fine.

The fine total was then $65,000.

“Integrity of testing is incredibly important. Our testing labs are our safeguards for our consumers. Consumer safety is one of the two pillars this agency was founded upon,” Laufer explained.

“And we take deficiencies in testing incredibly seriously, and our staff, through our Office of Compliance and Investigations, go out and we hold these testing labs accountable. And it’s imperative that they are accountable, accurate, and good actors in the space,” he added.

The NJ-CRC approved it 5-0.

Cultural Craft Cannabis Collective Fined $12,500 for Expiration Date Issues

Tuason said Culture Craft Cannabis Collective LLC extended the expiration date of usable cannabis without conducting required testing. He noted their labels displayed incorrect harvest and expiration dates.

They were cited for 5 separate regulatory violations.

Laufer said they miscalculated the expiration date and exceeded the 6-month expiration date. But he didn’t think it was appropriate to fine based on that.

However, he explained they noted the production date instead of the harvest date on a label, which was worth a $2,500 fine.

They also failed to report stability testing, which was a $5,000 fine.

They were missing an expiration date, which was a $5,000 fine.  

That totaled $12,500 in fines.

“We need to ensure our consumers are safe and obviously accurate dates are on packaging, just like it would be with dairy products….,” Laufer declared.

The NJ-CRC approved it 5-0.

Undisclosed Hashery Litigation Settlement

NJ-CRC Chief Counsel Aruna Mohankumar noted Hashery dispensary was issued a notice of violation and fined.

“The board is now voting to act consistent with the discussion it had in executive session to resolve and settle this matter,” she said.

The terms of settlement were not discussed.

Laufer moved to accept the settlement, which was approved 5-0.

Annual NJ Cannabis License Winners

CR said 8 companies wanted an annual NJ cannabis license. One would be considered separately:

1. Brick City Buds LLC Cultivator Standard
2. EBC Management Cultivator Standard
3. Everest Dispensary Cultivator Standard
4. The NAR Group Cultivator Standard
5. Brick City Buds LLC Manufacturer Standard
6. Everest Dispensary Manufacturer Standard
7. Summit Wellness LLC Retailer Standard

The NJ-CRC approved them 5-0.

One was considered separately, with Commissioner Amelia Mapp recused “due to an ongoing professional relationship.”

8 Vault 420 Co Retailer Standard

The NJ-CRC approved it 4-0.

There were no conversions to review since it has become obvious that the conditional license experiment was likely a failure one way or another, unfortunately.

Breakwater Dispensary Allowed to Sell Adult-use Cannabis

CR explained that the Alternative Treatment Center (ATC) medical cannabis license holder, Breakwater Treatment and Wellness Corp in Cranbury, Middlesex County, wanted their dispensary to go to adult-use.

Their flower and products are already available in the adult-use cannabis market elsewhere.

“They have certified they have sufficient supply of medical cannabis to meet the needs of patients,” CR said.

The NJ-CRC approved it 5-0.

Breakwater was allowed to begin adult-use cannabis sales due to a law change, which said it no longer mattered if a town wouldn’t allow a medical cannabis dispensary to sell adult-use cannabis.

The law does not count for towns that did not allow medical cannabis in the first place.

While this did take power from proud towns eager to protect their powers of Home Rule, Heady NJ did not see a lawsuit or much fight about it.

NJ-CRC Cannabis License Ownership Changes

Acting Executive Director Christopher Riggs said 3 licensed cannabis businesses want to change owners:

• Green Violet LLC
• The Greenhouse Dispensary LLC
• Mr. Nice Guys AC LLC

It was approved 5-0.

Everyone during the public comment speaking virtually was too muffled to be understood by Heady NJ watching via YouTube, which no one at the NJ-CRC noted.

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