Cannabis legalization in New Jersey at long last. After three years of stalls and false starts, New Jersey finally legalized cannabis with a stroke of Governor Phil Murphy’s pen. However, Murphy’s signature really just signifies the start of the hard work. Before adult-use cannabis sales can begin in New Jersey, the state needs to establish rules and regulations for the adult-use market and also appoint members to the newly established Cannabis Regulatory Commission.
Let’s walk through what needs to happen/how things may shape up for adult-use cannabis in New Jersey.
Implementation
We’re anticipating New Jersey’s adult-use cannabis market to resemble what was proposed late in 2020. We wrote about it at the time (blog post), but to reiterate:
New Jersey cannabis license categories:
- Retailer
- Wholesaler
- Cultivator
- Manufacturer
- Transporter
- Distributor
Additionally, the state will have competitive application windows for those licenses. The state’s regulatory commission will define the exact criteria, but will include review and scrutiny of would-be licensees operating plans, environmental plans, security plans and more. Take the time to review that blog post for more in-depth details. Here’s the link again.
Did someone say “timeline”?
The timeline for New Jersey adult-use cannabis sales is something of a moving target for right now. Initially, advocates and operators were hopeful for pre-existing medical licensees to get sales going by mid-2021, but with the prolonged delay in signing the bill into law, and with those medical operators still being required to prove they have enough product supply to meet the demands of medical cannabis patients in the state, mid-2021 is not happening.
Maybe by the end of the year, though. Additionally, the state needs to establish rules and regulations and that regulatory committee for adult-use cannabis before applications become available. We’re going out on an optimistic limb and saying, again, maybe by the end of 2021. We hope we’re wrong and it’s sooner than that, but New Jersey’s process has been very slow.
Have questions about New Jersey adult-use cannabis or licensing? Get in touch with MMLG today.