The NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJCRC) suspended the cannabis cultivation license of Magic Garden Botanicals at a special meeting for unauthorized outdoor growing.
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“Just last Tuesday, CRC investigators conducted a routine compliance inspection of Magic Garden Botanicals in Bridgeton. What they discovered was an unauthorized outdoor cannabis cultivation operation on the licensed premises,” Acting Executive Director Christopher Riggs explained.
NJCRC Meeting on Magic Garden Botanicals and Outdoor Cultivation
“Magic Garden had previously been warned on multiple occasions that Commission approval was required before conducting any outdoor cultivation activities. And despite those warnings, the licensee proceeded with this unauthorized operation,” he added.
“The inspectors identified several significant ongoing violations. First, failure to maintain required security measures. The outdoor cultivation area was not enclosed by compliance fencing or any other physical barriers,” Riggs noted. “The area was not adequately secured.
“They failed to use Metrc appropriately,” he argued. “The cannabis plants… were not properly tagged or entered into the tracking system through Metrc… “
Riggs said they failed to maintain adequate records.
“The plants were not properly recorded in our system,” he said. “There’s repeated non-compliance despite several warnings from our compliance officers.”
“The conduct occurred after the licensee had been expressly warned… It is the recommendation of staff that an immediate summary suspension of this cultivation license be granted,” Riggs stated.
“Magic Garden knowingly established an outdoor cultivation operation despite prior Commission warnings. They failed to implement the required security measures and failed to track the resulting cannabis inventory…,” Riggs explained.
NJCRC Chair Harris Laufer “called it a public safety concern.”
He argued it “undermines the CRC’s ability to effectively oversee the licensee’s cannabis operations.”
NJCRC Suspends Magic Garden Botanicals Cultivation License
“Staff is recommending a summary suspension,” Riggs declared.
“I want to commend staff for working after hours on a Friday to make sure all the paperwork was in order for this meeting,” Laufer said.
“Any surprise cannabis, untracked cannabis poses an immediate risk to public safety because it doesn’t meet the standards that New Jersey has set,” he declared.
“Just follow our regulations. Work with your compliance officers, and we wouldn’t be here today if businesses would just do that. Its’ not something we enjoy doing but it’s necessary for the protection of the public,” Commissioner Krista Nash said.
Laufer said the suspension would begin Wednesday, October 7th.
The NJCRC suspended its license unanimously 4-0, with Vice Chair Jackie Ferraro absent.
“We are in the process of getting counsel,” Magic Garden Botanicals CEO Oscar Carillo told Heady NJ in response to the announcement.
Along with a New Jersey cannabis cultivation license, they operate a licensed NJ cannabis manufacturing facility.
Early this year, the NJCRC revoked the license of Mollitiam due to similar issues before first suspending it.
