The company of New Jersey underground legacy to legal entrepreneur Moe Weed opened a CBD shop and museum on State Street in Downtown Trenton.
It’s called Moe Weed II Museum and Wellness Center.
Brittany Bennett of nearby Hamilton in Mercer County is the co-owner with Mama Moe, as she identifies herself.
“It’s like a family business,” she explained.
The new location opened in December. Bennett explained that it’s a holistic wellness and media center that promotes healing. They’re launching an event space as part of the museum space in the back.
She wants to emphasize general health practices since she was trained in alternative Indian Ayurvedic medicine. Bennett has her own Higher Vibe Wellness product line of body butter and massage oils to address inflammation launching that will be sold at the shop.
Bennett stressed the Moe Weed II Museum and Wellness Center is Black woman-owned. She said she has 51 percent ownership, while Mama Moe has 49 percent ownership.
Moe Weed himself does not have a percentage in the CBD shop. However, they are working together utilizing the same brand in a unique structure.
He is a serial entrepreneur who has launched a few businesses already. For example, Bennett explained they are also launching an electric scooter rental service for those who don’t have access to a car. Moe Weed has also sought to perform charity in Trenton.
Moe Weed II Museum and Wellness Center
The museum part contains a large timeline of the recorded history of cannabis. It notes the use of cannabis in the Bible and throughout the world since ancient times.
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“For thousands of years, they’ve been using it as an herb for medicinal healing. We just want to highlight that and educate people,” Bennett explained.
She said they wanted to emphasize the Black role in cannabis history since slaves picked hemp to make rope along with cotton.
They are planning on creating exhibits.
It’s an event space as well. The Moe Weed CBD Shop is also planning a puff and paint brunch as its first event on Saturday, January 27th.
They also want to educate the community in the space on the nuances of cannabis and hemp. Bennett said they want to reach elderly people who have severe conditions that are often treated with expensive medication with CBD products.
“A lot of them don’t know about the weed because it was so stigmatized,” she noted.
Bennett said they want to have booths where people can tour a cannabis farm through a Virtual Reality headset.
CBD Shop
The Moe Weed II Museum and Wellness Center also functions as a CBD shop with Delta 8 and many similar cannabinoid hemp products like those with THC-A available legally, though none are locally made.
“All the products we sell have a QR code on the back,” Bennett explained. “You can look up this strain and every other strain or cart they have.”
She noted many corner stores and gas stations get poor quality Delta-8 hemp products.
Few, if any, of them are made in New Jersey.
While the New Jersey legislature said it would regulate Delta hemp products, the bill was not passed.
“We’re being transparent about what we sell. We get them from accredited sources,” Bennett declared.
They tried to open a CBD store in Ewing first.
“But the name Moe Weed put a bad taste in their mouth,” she noted.
Bennett said many initially were skeptical of Delta 8 hemp but now they’re more interested.
They also do some business in magic mushroom chocolate bars and gummies.
“You have to know your limits,” she said.
Bennett noted they are near NJWeedman’s Joint and upcoming dispensary and Bud Bandit on State Street across from Trenton City Hall.
“We’re not trying to make any enemies. We don’t want to step on anyone’s toes. That store is not in that lane,” Bennett said.
It is part of their underground legacy to legal path.
Trenton Cannabis Dispensary Issues
The South Broad Street location is the main location of Moe Weed. It’s their underground legacy location where they’re seeking to open a legal New Jersey cannabis dispensary. It’s partially closed for renovations as they work with the NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJ-CRC) and Trenton.
Bennett said opening the Moe Weed CBD shop takes the pressure off needing to open.
Moe Weed has had many problems with the city of Trenton trying to open a legal New Jersey cannabis dispensary.
Bennett said they want to open by December 2024.
“It takes forever,” she lamented.
They still have not been approved nor heard by the Trenton Cannabis Board, which they need before getting city council approval to open.
“I don’t think they were necessarily ready or had a plan. We’ve seen a lot of amendments in the rules,” Bennett said.
Process Issues
She explained their application got caught in limbo.
“A lot of those people in positions of power weren’t qualified,” Bennett declared. “The transparency is also not there.”
They’re still waiting to hear from the city.
She said Trenton doesn’t have many resources to help New Jersey cannabis license applicants. However, Trenton Cannabis Board Chair Ken Wolski has tried to answer their questions the best he can.
“If there’s no protocols or regulations in place, it’s hard for him to give us the information,” Bennett noted.
This is ironic since Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora was very pro-cannabis as an Assemblyman. He was a leader championing legalizing cannabis in the New Jersey legislature before becoming mayor.
Trenton Law Director Wesley Bridges blamed the City Council for the delay. Their meetings were often heated. However, since then, he noted four dispensaries have already secured Trenton Council approval, including NJWeedman’s.
She said the NJ-CRC has not been an issue. Moe Weed got its New Jersey conditional license in October 2022.
Dreams for the Future
Bennett is also interested in manufacturing and having a line of their own cultivation strains.
“Hopefully, one day, we’ll have our licenses. We can dream, right?” she asked.
“Who knew you could have dreams and open a dispensary and do something that thousands of Black people before u went to jail for and lost their lives for? How can we benefit from that? That’s what we’re trying to do. Taking back something that was stolen,” Bennett added.
“Now that we understand the industry, it’s kind of easy to go somewhere else. But when we saw people do that to us, people were like they’re coming from out of state. They’re taking our licenses. It’s kind of like the game, I guess,” she noted.
The amount that cannabis advocates in New Jersey and elsewhere value social equity and want to see them open versus who actually opens varies.
