The NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJCRC) approved 65 licenses as the New Jersey weed market continues growing. However, patient concerns remain.
Conditional NJ Cannabis Licenses Awarded
Executive Director Christopher Riggs explained the variety of businesses awarded a conditional New Jersey cannabis license today.
“They have followed the licensing process,” he noted.
The following companies won:
1 Bloom Budz, LLC Cultivator Microbusiness
2 Conscious Gardner INC Cultivator Microbusiness
3 JLABZ Private Cultivators Cultivator Microbusiness
4 Urge New Jersey LLC Cultivator Microbusiness
5 Green Gem Industries, Inc Cultivator Standard
6 Sweetes Sweets LLC Cultivator Standard
7 Duber Delivery Service LLC Delivery Microbusiness
8 Elite Flowers Delivery Services Delivery Microbusiness
9 JTDC Logistics Delivery Microbusiness
10 KushExpeditors Corporation Delivery Microbusiness
11 Packin Loud LLC Delivery Microbusiness
12 All Left LLC Delivery Standard
13 Capital City Cannacarriers L.L.C. Delivery Standard
14 Leafdrop.com Delivery Standard
15 Loud Distribution & Wholesale LLC Distributor Standard
16 Green Gem Industries, Inc Manufacturer Standard
17 Impact Universe LLC Manufacturer Standard
18 BeStoned LLC Retailer Microbusiness
19 Buzzy Bee Business Partners LLC Retailer Microbusiness
20 Garden River Inc Retailer Microbusiness
21 HiBlend LLC Retailer Microbusiness
22 The Veteran Dispensary Retailer Microbusiness
23 Garden State Grow Labs, LLC Retailer Standard
24 Haus of Bud LLC Retailer Standard
25 Heritage Cannabis Farms LLC. Retailer Standard
26 New Jersey Leaf LLC Retailer Standard
27 Riverside Apothecary, LLC Retailer Standard
28 Viego Verde LLC Retailer Standard
29 Exquisite Images and Fine Entertainment Wholesaler Microbusiness
30 Royal Beverages LLC Wholesaler Microbusiness
31 Sentinel Laboratories LLC Wholesaler Microbusiness
32 Weed Moms Wholesaler Microbusiness
33 Loud Distribution & Wholesale LLC Wholesaler Standard
The NJCRC approved them 5-0.
Conversion to Annual NJ Cannabis License Winners
Riggs explained that a range of types of companies won the conversion to the annual license needed to open.
They followed the same process. In addition, they’ve also gone through a qualification review, background checks, and a quality control review.
1 Moja Life LLC 3367 Cultivator Microbusiness
2 White Lily, LLC 1135 Cultivator Microbusiness
3 Dank Deluxx Cultivation LLC 1278 Cultivator Standard
4 Pantheon 1154 Cultivator Standard
5 Noble 1 LLC 1165 Cultivator Standard
6 The Cannabis Philosophy LLC 2125 Manufacturer Microbusiness
7 Littie LLC 2379 Manufacturer Standard
8 Sinsemilla Labs LLC 5051 Manufacturer Standard
9 Blazin Buddiez 2903 Retailer Microbusiness
10 CannaVibes 1642 Retailer Microbusiness
11 Hazy Harvest 1509 Retailer Microbusiness
12 Benedict’s Supply LLC 2030 Retailer Standard
13 Far & Dotter Wellness LLC 2251 Retailer Standard
14 Greenlight Apothecary 2538 Retailer Standard
15 House of Buds 2064 Retailer Standard
16 Main Street Dispensary 2135 Retailer Standard
17 Retreat NJ, LLC 2646 Retailer Standard
The NJCRC approved them 5-0.
Annual NJ Cannabis Licenses Won
Riggs noted there were a few winners of the annual license needed to open and operate in the New Jersey weed market.
There were 11 licenses up for consideration.
Retailer Atlantic License Development LLC was initially supposed to be approved, but it was withdrawn from consideration.
“Apologies for the error,” he said.
The following companies won:
1 DirectLeaf Delivery LLC Delivery Microbusiness
2 Green Lane Distribution LLC Distributor Standard
3 Prince Garden LLC Manufacturer Microbusiness
4 Doobiez LLC Manufacturer Standard
5 LoveGrow Company LLC Manufacturer Standard
6 The Midori Leaf LLC Retailer Microbusiness
8 Bloomsbury Roots LLC Retailer Standard
9 Canna Bar LLC Retailer Standard
10 Evolve Sky LLC Retailer Standard
11 Mas Flower, LLC Retailer Standard
12 Green Lane Distribution LLC Wholesaler Standard
The NJCRC approved the 11 annual license awards 5-0.
License Renewals
Riggs explained several license holders had to be renewed.
That’s why it’s called an annual license.
The following were on the agenda for a renewal:
- Design 710
- Eastern Green
- Ript Dispensary
- Downtown FLWR
- Garfield Greens Dispensary
- Camden Apothecary
- Joy Leaf
- Ayr
- GTI Rise
- Molly Ann Farms
- Organic Farms
- Indigo Dispensary
- Fernway Garden State
- Brighterside Canopy
“Adhere to our reporting requirements for the renewal process. You are to submit timely, detailed complete information. The team is very helpful.
The NJCRC approved them 4-0-1, with Commissioner Charles Barker abstaining.
Brute’s Roots was then up for renewal.
Riggs said ownership changes should be requested as soon as possible and separatelyly.
“I would echo that,” NJCRC Chair Dianna Houenou said.
It was approved 4-0, with Commissioner Maria Del Cid-Kosso recused due to a relationship, and thus did not vote.
More Edibles Available in the New Jersey Weed Market
The NJCRC’s new Chief Counsel, Dave Tuason, explained that in September 2023, they began allowing more edibles in the New Jersey weed market.
The official New Jersey weed edible rules were published in October 2023. That allowed for a period of public comment before final adoption.
“We’re currently working on… our notice of adoption,” Tuason said.
So he noted they started allowing the following types of cannabis edibles:
- Dried form
- Topicals
- Oil
- Syrups
- Single serving beverage with 5 mg of THC
- Pills, capsules and tablets
- Baked goods
- Butter, jams, and jellies
Since September, Tuason said the following edible products have debuted in the New Jersey weed market:
- Chocolate
- Caramel
- Lollypops
- Cookies
- Brownies
“We know there are more product types,” he explained. “We continue to encourage manufacturers to produce additional types to provide more options.”
Houenou later asked, “Approximately how many businesses are taking advantage of this opportunity to offer new products?”
“It’s not a majority of the businesses taking advantage of this opportunity,” Riggs noted.
He said they want more doing so.
“A large driving factor… was the desire from patients and consumers to see a wider variety of products. I would hope those businesses pining for this opportunity are taking adv of it,” Houenou said.
NJ Cannabis Sales and Prices
“The sales continue to grow,” Riggs said.

“Medical sales continue to drop,” he admitted.
Riggs broke down sales over the last 12 months as well.
“We do see seasonal dips,” he noted.
Overall sales have increased.
They then showed the price per gram on a chart.

“It continues to go down,” Riggs said.
The price of cannabis is down to about $11.8 a gram from around $13.06 in July 2023.
The minimum sold is usually 3.5 grams or an eighth of an ounce.
Riggs explained that cannabis bud or flower is the most popular product at 41 percent of sales, with battery vape pen cartridges or carts at 29 percent and edibles at 14 percent.
“While the prices continue to drop…. participation in the legal cannabis market by consumers is growing,” he declared.
Data on NJ Cannabis License Ownership
Director of the Diversity and Inclusion Office Wesley McWhite III then explained New Jersey cannabis license ownership statistics.
He claimed 71 percent of the New Jersey weed market licenses are diversely owned, and 16 percent is Social Equity owned for a total of 532 annual licenses rewarded.
McWhite said 86 social equity licenses were approved.
He said they are overperforming their benchmarks.
Of the 532 annual licenses, 26 percent are women-owned, and 20 percent are minority-owned.
In addition, the statistics of the New Jersey cannabis companies with a license currently in operation also showed great progress has been made.
McWhite said New Jersey is making progress on these issues while it remains a significant issue across the state-legal cannabis markets.
“At the next meeting, could you provide what that pricing looks like for medical cannabis?” Del Cid-Kosso asked.
She was happy more Hispanic owned businesses were making progress toward opening.
Clinical Registrants Progress
Tuason said they’re making progress on Clinical Registrants after the comment period was last fall.
It allows medical cannabis license holders to engage in clinical research. They must be associated with a regional academic medical center to do research.
Houenou was happy about the progress and said they incorporated public feedback into the final rules.
Commissioner Krista Nash was happy about the progress towards medical cannabis research.
“I am thrilled we included language… that prohibits animal testing,” she declared.
The NJCRC approved the rule 4-0-1, with Barker abstaining.
Chair’s Report
“The Commission still has quite a few inactive applications. These apps r unable to move forward,’ Houenou said.
They probably have given up.
She explained they should check their contact information and spam folders to stay in touch. Houenou added that eventually, they will remove stale applications.
In addition, she noted the NJCRC will hold round table discussions on patient purchase limits, Alternative Treatment Center or medical cannabis dispensary access and availability, and institutional caregivers.
Houenou said they are allowing hybrid virtual comments now at their in-person meetings in Trenton.
She said they are trying to make sure they have enough resources to carry out their duties.
Furthermore, Houenou said they’re catching more violations now, too.
Del Cid-Kosso noted they have discussed medical issues at length.
“We wouldn’t be here if it were not for the medical program and the patients,” she said.
Executive Director’s Report
Riggs said there are more than 150 medical and adult-use cannabis dispensaries operating in New Jersey.
“There is now a dispensary in every county,” he exclaimed.
There have been 1444 conditional licenses won, 350 conversions to an annual license needed to open, and 182 regular annual licenses.
So that’s about 24 percent of conditionals have converted to be able to open.
Riggs said that patients are down to 75,414 with 4,990 caregivers and 1,561 doctors in the medical cannabis program.
Delegation of Denying Licenses and Name Changes
He said they want to streamline the process to have invoices paid and deny those who do not pay.
Those who did not pay probably gave up too.
They also want name changes to be more efficient.
Houenou said that name changes still need to be approved by them.
The NJCRC approved it 4-1, with Barker voting no.
Ownership and Location Changes
Riggs said Illicit Gardens NJ LLC is adding a new owner, while LLC and Holistic Re-Leaf LLC wanted to change their ownership structures.
The NJCRC approved it 4-0-1, with Barker abstaining.
He then explained the large corporate Multi-State Operator (MSO) Columbia Care’s Cannabist Dispensary wants to move within Mays Landing, and the large MSO Acreage’s Botanist is moving from Atlantic City to Collingswood.
All three places are in South Jersey.
The NJCRC approved the Cannabist move 4-0-1, with Barker abstaining.
Del Cid-Kosso said she would appreciate it if the dispensaries talked to their employees about moving.
“The location of the new site might be an hour away. I do find this very concerning sometimes,” she declared.
The NJCRC approved the Botanist’s move 4-0-1, with Barker abstaining.
The NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission Grows
Houenou explained they have a budget of $18.28 million, with $13.51 million being spent on staff, $1.6 million on software, $ 2.28 million on operations, and $900,000 on outreach and public education.
She noted aid they have about 70 staffers.
“We’re still planning for continued growth,” Houenou said.
She explained they want to continue to grow with the industry.
ATC Cards for Budtenders and Workers
Riggs said 7 workers need to be deemed “rehabilitated” to work in a licensed cannabis company with the proper badge.
“To be so humble to request a job, it breaks you. They went through so much for decades,” Barker said.
He added they’ve approved about 30 people so far.
“This is the difference from being able to provide for my family and recidivism and going back to the streets,” Barker declared.
“It is making real, real drastic improvements,” he added.
The NJCRC approved it 5-0.
Medical Cannabis Patient Concerns Remain
“What do you people do around here? No one seems to care… about the medical side,” Samuel Reichbart declared.
He brought up previously noted issues of batch sizes, which might allow bad products into the legal New Jersey weed market along with ingredients that might be bad for sickly medical cannabis patients.
“I hope no one has died because of your failures,” Reichbart exclaimed.
He was unhappy that they seemed more focused on businesses as stakeholders.
“Why would we shop legally?” he asked.
Virtually, cannabis patient advocate Andrea Raible also complained about perceived medical cannabis patient neglect on previously noted issues.
Another person named Daniel complained of inadequate medical cannabis access and the quality of medical cannabis products available.
More Public Comments
Tom of Grow Works complained of issues with the cannabis license tracking system Metrc since the NJ Delta-8 THC intoxicating hemp regulation bill that passed in June.
Governor Phil Murphy (D) has since signed it into law quietly.
“Now we are casualties of the hemp ban,” he declared.
Tom said that liquor stores can sell intoxicating hemp beverages in towns that do not like licensed cannabis companies, which makes little sense.
“You need to sit down with the hemp program right away,” he argued.
Cannabis businessman Oscar Carillo said he is a Hispanic social equity license holder.
“There’s no clarity in the process. I don’t know when I can operate. There’s nobody who can give me an answer to that. I made a bunch of calls,” he explained.
Carillo criticized different responses from NJCRC officials.
“That’s kind of hard when you’re running a business,” he lamented.
Carillo added he wants to bring new products to the New Jersey weed market previously discussed.
He noted spent $4 million so far.
Carlos Almanzar complained that few are getting approved in Ocean County.
At the end of the meeting, Reichbart shouted at the NJCRC commissioners and staff, demanding action and criticizing them. A guard was brought to maintain calmness.