The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJCRC) approved 70 adult-use dispensary, manufacturing, cultivation, wholesaling, deliveries, distribution, licenses, and consumption lounge rules which go into effect next month.
NJ Conditional Cannabis License Winners
NJCRC Executive Director Jeff Brown said 22 New Jersey conditional cannabis licenses were about to be approved, including new license categories. Thus, the NJCRC approved the first 2 Wholesalers, 1 Distributor, and 1 Delivery license.
He explained their very thorough process of investigating the following applications:
1 3437 Elevated Esential’s Cultivator Microbusiness
2 3043 Endure Exotics LLC Cultivator Microbusiness
3 5644 Equality Richman Estates Cultivator Microbusiness
4 4364 Garden River Inc Cultivator Microbusiness
5 4939 High End Gardens Cultivator Microbusiness
6 5083 Greenway Systems LLC Cultivator Standard
7 2954 Suave Genetics LLC Cultivator Standard
8 5517 Garden River Inc Manufacturer Microbusiness
9 5222 The Chandler Collection Manufacturer Microbusiness
10 5545 Green Street Cultivation LLC Wholesaler Microbusiness
11 5086 87K Transport Wholesaler Standard
12 5087 87K Transport Distributor Standard
13 5241 Endure Exotics LLC Retailer Microbusiness
14 5004 feels good dispensary Retailer Microbusiness
15 4145 Green Eyed Chief Retailer Microbusiness
16 5366 Axis Wellness LLC Retailer Standard
17 5973 Emerald Isle Dispensary LLC Retailer Standard
18 5708 Green Hill NJ LLC Retailer Standard
19 4747 INSA Middle Township LLC Retailer Standard
20 5425 New Day Neighborhood Dispensary Retailer Standard
21 5712 Temporary Trichom LLC Retailer Standard
22 5494 California Honey Corp. Delivery Standard
The NJCRC approved them 3-0-1, with Vice Chair Sam Delgado absent and Commissioner Charles Barker abstaining.
Conversion to Annual NJ Cannabis License Approvals
Seven cultivators and eight manufacturers were among those approved to convert to an annual license necessary to open.
1 3449 West Orange Farms Cultivator Microbusiness
2 4343 Bliss New Jersey Inc Cultivator Standard
3 3008 Jessika Mialaa LLC Cultivator Standard
4 2695 Lucky Buds LLC Cultivator Standard
5 3617 Organic Green Buds LLC Cultivator Standard
6 2925 Quail Pond Farms Cultivator Standard
7 3422 Victory Natural Farms LLC Cultivator Standard
8 4156 TLEHL Inc Manufacturer Microbusiness
9 2995 DMW Holdings LLC Manufacturer Standard
10 3340 Garden Society NJ LLC Manufacturer Standard
11 3843 Heritage Cannabis Farms LLC Manufacturer Standard
12 3600 Lucky Buds LLC Manufacturer Standard
13 2796 Mule Extracts LLC Manufacturer Standard
14 2773 Statewide Property Holdings NJ LLC Manufacturer Standard
15 3423 Victory Natural Farms LLC Manufacturer Standard
16 4288 Andover Cannabis LLC Retailer Microbusiness
17 3805 Atlantic Flower Retailer Microbusiness
18 2964 Butler & Baldwin LLC Retailer Microbusiness
19 3973 Essence Wellness Retailer Microbusiness
20 3619 High Key 201 LLC Retailer Microbusiness
21 4676 Jane’s Joint Retailer Microbusiness
22 4675 NJ Pure Retailer Microbusiness
23 2875 Peaches Garden, LLC Retailer Microbusiness
24 2961 Queen of Spades LLC Retailer Microbusiness
25 4171 Central Jersey Dispensary Retailer Standard
26 5005 Community Greenhouse LLC Retailer Standard
27 2625 Cure Wellness NJ LLC Retailer Standard
28 3415 Emerald Tea Supply Company Retailer Standard
29 3027 Fresh Elizabeth LLC Retailer Standard
30 3265 La Vida Gardens LLC Retailer Standard
31 2895 Mad Hatter Dispensaries LLC Retailer Standard
32 3247 Shigh LLC Retailer Standard
33 3434 STIIIZY New Jersey LLC Retailer Standard
34 3286 The Dispensary of Somerset Retailer Standard
35 2872 The Dispensary of Union Retailer Standard
36 2762 The Frosted Nug at Red Bank Retailer Standard
The NJCRC approved them 3-0-1, with Barker abstaining.
Annual License Applications
1 3105 Prowess Cannabis, LLC Cultivator Standard
2 1091 Trulieve NJ, Inc. Cultivator Standard
3 1029 Trulieve NJ, Inc. Manufacturer Standard
4 3353 Green Leaf Cannabis LLC Manufacturer Standard
5 4354 Kota Canna LLC Retailer Microbusiness
6 2930 B Caf Dispensary Retailer Microbusiness
7 2611 BaM Body and Mind Dispensary NJ, Inc. Retailer Standard
8 4378 Indoveda LLC Retailer Standard
9 3593 Marvin’s Garden LLC Retailer Standard
10 4122 Mountain Dispensary Retailer Standard
11 2579 Shipwreck’d LLC Retailer Standard
12 2038 The Medicine Woman, LLC Retailer Standard
“To the businesses that truly represent equity … thank you. I hope all of you are great actors in our industry,” Barker declared.
The NJCRC approved them unanimously 4-0.
NJ Cannabis Consumption Lounge Rules Updates
NJCRC Chief Counsel Christopher Riggs explained the proposed adult use cannabis consumption lounge rules were published last January. They still will not let them sell food, alcohol or tobacco.
But food can be delivered or brought in if the town allows it. This might be somewhere businesses could get creative with nearby places. The NJCRC also specified that medical cannabis patrons can bring their own legal New Jersey cannabis.
They also allow only one cannabis consumption lounge regardless of the number of dispensary licenses held.
“There aren’t many changes from our proposal,” he added.
The New Jersey cannabis consumption lounge application fees are $1,000 for a microbusiness and $5,000 for a standard-size company.
“We’ve responded to all the comments,” Riggs declared regarding the 230 they received.
“Stay tuned,” he said.
The official New Jersey cannabis consumption lounge rules will be published next month in the New Jersey Register, where state regulations are in effect once placed.
Brown said they will release information on the New Jersey cannabis consumption lounge portal for applications soon.
“A couple more steps need to happen here, but this is good,” he added.
“Consider an exclusively period for social equity, diversely owned businesses,” Barker argued. “It’s a critical component to establishing equity and level the playing fields.”
He noted other state-legal cannabis markets did so. The NJCRC did it with New Jersey cannabis delivery and wholesaling licenses already.
“That is certainly a consideration for us,” NJCRC Chair Dianna Houenou replied. “It will be addressed when we get to the notice of application phase.”
The NJCRC approved the rules 4-0.
New Jersey Cannabis Dispensaries and Market Update
Brown noted there have been many adult use New Jersey cannabis dispensaries opening.
He declared there are 90 legal New Jersey cannabis dispensaries in the medical and adult use markets combined in 20 of the 21 counties of New Jersey. Brown promised more cultivators and manufacturers would be open soon.
“I anticipate a lot more being licensed this year,” he added.
Brown explained they had approved 445 adult use conversions to annals, annual, and expanded ATC licenses, with 160 pending in general, 311 pending resubmissions following a cure or error, and 187 applications under review in the compliance and investigations stage. It takes about 90 days for the NJCRC to review conditional cannabis licenses. But it takes six months to review annuals and conversion licenses.
“We continue to see a lot of new openings,” he declared.
There have been 233 conversions, and 141 annual licenses approved, along with 71 expanded licenses so far for a total of 445 adult use New Jersey cannabis licenses.
However, the New Jersey medical cannabis program is continuing to decline, with about only 89,000 patients, down from a high of around 125,000.
A solely digital card will be released soon, which will be more affordable.
NJ Adult Use Cannabis Market Data
NJCRC Director of Diversity and Inclusion Wesley McWhite III said they had promising and exciting data on diversity and equity in the New Jersey cannabis market.
“These are human beings who have a dream of opening up a cannabis business, and we are going to do everything we can to get this cannabis industry up as quickly as possible,” he declared.
There are 95 cultivators, and 69 manufacturers that have been approved to open McWhite noted.
He noted from the numbers above that many New Jersey cannabis dispensaries have been approved.
“This will lead to a diversity of products on the shelves across the state,” McWhite said.
There are 95 annual licenses and 169 conversions to annual licenses that are diversely owned for a total of 264 awarded thus far.
“We are still surpassing our statutory benchmarks,” McWhite noted about diversity in the market and those with annual and conversion to annual licenses.
Those benchmarks say the market should have 15 percent of licenses be minority owned 15 percent be social equity owned.
Progress on a Diverse New Jersey Cannabis Market
McWhite analyzed the license winners by race.
McWhite also broke down the opened companies by race.
He noted that town government, securing property, access to capital or money, inflation of construction costs and education on the market’s details are all issues hurting New Jersey cannabis license applicants.
(The need to educate people on the New Jersey cannabis market is why Heady NJ is a great resource!)
“The cannabis stigma is still a problem or hiccup at the local level,” McWhite added.
He encouraged them to reach out at crc.info@crc.nj.gov.
According to him, there are 5 cultivators and 4 manufacturers in the exclusively adult use New Jersey cannabis market currently operational.
“Many, many, more to come and much more variety um and quality of product entering into our market soon,” McWhite declared.
“We want to continue to work with individuals…. all the way through the process until they become operational,” he said. “Continue to keep working at it. I hear your resolve.”
Breaking Down NJ Cannabis License Numbers
Brown said the New Jersey medical cannabis Alternative Treatment Center (ATC) data is in a different computer system so it’s harder to gather and not as comprehensive. Thus, it will be revealed at a later date.
“Thank you everybody. Definitely something that we, as a board, have been asking for. Continue to really break down the data,” Barker said.
He was skeptical of the data and thought the minority owned opened companies were still low.
“I’m encouraged and motivated and ecstatic we’re blowing our state requirements out of the water,” Barker declared.
He was curious about the ownership numbers of minorities harmed by the war on drugs and Social Equity owned numbers.
Twenty-six were shown to be both among the licenses granted by the NJCRC on one of the slides.
Commissioner Maria Del Cid thanked the staff but noted that the number of majority Latino-owned and operated were a little low.
“Once we see more of those businesses become open and become operational hopefully, knock on wood, those numbers will increase,” she declared.
Del Cid wanted to help spread the word to increase Hispanic-owned licensed New Jersey cannabis businesses.
ATC Cards for Workers
Riggs explained someone with a prior marijuana conviction had issues with receiving a card to work for a licensed New Jersey cannabis business due to questions of rehabilitation.
It affected 5 New Jersey cannabis dispensaries. The number of workers was not specified.
The NJCRC voted 4-0 to allow the workers to get their ATC cards back.
Name Changes
Brown explained that 2 requests were from Yuma Way to Garfield Gardens LLC and from Cannabis NJ to Green Oasis Dispensary NJ LLC.
The NJCRC approved it 4-0.
