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Well more than a year after voters said yes to legal weed, New Jersey is finally about to start getting high on its own supply.
State residents aged 21 and older can lawfully buy marijuana starting on Thursday, after a decade-long effort by advocates to legalise recreational use and end years of racially unbalanced criminal prosecution.
Dispensaries are expecting big crowds on Thursday, a day after the unofficial marijuana holiday known as 4/20. In Paterson and Bloomfield, dispensaries operated by Green Thumb Industries will open at 6am, CEO Ben Kovler said.
“We see it as the end of Prohibition 2.0,” he said.
The state’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission has approved 13 medical dispensaries to sell adult-use marijuana. The locations are owned by Ascend Wellness, Columbia Care, Acreage, Green Thumb Industries, Curaleaf, Terrascend and Verano.
The sites are located throughout the state, including the suburbs of New York City and Philadelphia. New York is expected to begin recreational sales sometime in 2023, while Pennsylvania only permits medical use.
Thursday’s debut comes a year and a half after New Jersey voters approved a referendum allowing recreational marijuana use, joining 17 other states and the District of Columbia.
Industry executives and analysts expect the market will exceed $2bn within years. Governor Phil Murphy’s proposed budget anticipates $121m in cannabis revenue, mostly from taxes and fees, in fiscal year 2023.
There are 130,000 medical marijuana patients in New Jersey, and the commission estimates roughly 800,000 potential recreational customers.
“The goal here is to take people away from the black market and bring them into the safe, legal market,” said George Archos, CEO of Verano.
While medical marijuana dispensaries will initially be the only legal sites, the commission has received hundreds of applications from start-up businesses. Those owned by people with marijuana convictions as well as minorities, women and disabled veterans will receive priority consideration.
The law requires much of the state’s cannabis revenue to be invested in communities most harmed by the “war on drugs”. In 2018, black people were arrested more than three times as often as white people for marijuana offences despite similar usage rates, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey.
“That’s the whole point here: making sure we’re pursuing equity every step of the way and ending our reliance on a criminal response for something that people consume all over the country,” said Amol Sinha, the group’s executive director.
Frank Perullo, the president of Ascend, said the company’s Rochelle Park location has quadrupled its workforce to 125 and added 50 parking spaces as part of the ramp-up to Thursday.
Cannabis executives hope a successful launch in New Jersey will spur other east coast states to take action, noting that polls show that a majority of Americans support legalising marijuana.
“It’s time for legislators to catch up with the American consumer,” said Joe Bayern, CEO of Curaleaf.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
New Jersey makes dagga available in shops
Well more than a year after voters said yes to legal weed, New Jersey is finally about to start getting high on its own supply.
State residents aged 21 and older can lawfully buy marijuana starting on Thursday, after a decade-long effort by advocates to legalise recreational use and end years of racially unbalanced criminal prosecution.
Dispensaries are expecting big crowds on Thursday, a day after the unofficial marijuana holiday known as 4/20. In Paterson and Bloomfield, dispensaries operated by Green Thumb Industries will open at 6am, CEO Ben Kovler said.
“We see it as the end of Prohibition 2.0,” he said.
The state’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission has approved 13 medical dispensaries to sell adult-use marijuana. The locations are owned by Ascend Wellness, Columbia Care, Acreage, Green Thumb Industries, Curaleaf, Terrascend and Verano.
The sites are located throughout the state, including the suburbs of New York City and Philadelphia. New York is expected to begin recreational sales sometime in 2023, while Pennsylvania only permits medical use.
Thursday’s debut comes a year and a half after New Jersey voters approved a referendum allowing recreational marijuana use, joining 17 other states and the District of Columbia.
Industry executives and analysts expect the market will exceed $2bn within years. Governor Phil Murphy’s proposed budget anticipates $121m in cannabis revenue, mostly from taxes and fees, in fiscal year 2023.
There are 130,000 medical marijuana patients in New Jersey, and the commission estimates roughly 800,000 potential recreational customers.
“The goal here is to take people away from the black market and bring them into the safe, legal market,” said George Archos, CEO of Verano.
While medical marijuana dispensaries will initially be the only legal sites, the commission has received hundreds of applications from start-up businesses. Those owned by people with marijuana convictions as well as minorities, women and disabled veterans will receive priority consideration.
The law requires much of the state’s cannabis revenue to be invested in communities most harmed by the “war on drugs”. In 2018, black people were arrested more than three times as often as white people for marijuana offences despite similar usage rates, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey.
“That’s the whole point here: making sure we’re pursuing equity every step of the way and ending our reliance on a criminal response for something that people consume all over the country,” said Amol Sinha, the group’s executive director.
Frank Perullo, the president of Ascend, said the company’s Rochelle Park location has quadrupled its workforce to 125 and added 50 parking spaces as part of the ramp-up to Thursday.
Cannabis executives hope a successful launch in New Jersey will spur other east coast states to take action, noting that polls show that a majority of Americans support legalising marijuana.
“It’s time for legislators to catch up with the American consumer,” said Joe Bayern, CEO of Curaleaf.
Reuters
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