Seven New Jersey Dispensaries Get the Green Light for Recreational Sales

NEW JERSEY – After months of waiting for approval, New Jersey dispensaries could be able to start selling cannabis to adults as soon as this month.

According to NJ.com, The Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) approved seven established dispensaries, or alternative treatment centers, to begin selling recreational weed to adults.

This votes comes only several weeks after the commission rejected a number of applications due to a shortage of about 100,000 pounds of inventory. Jeff Brown, executive director of the CRC, believes it was a long time coming, but the commission wanted to be sure supply would meet demand.

“Over the last year we hit many milestones and all strengthened us to getting to this point,” said Brown.

There are only seven approved centers and satellite shops that will be selling cannabis initially to both medical patients and recreational consumers.

The facilities where recreational weed could soon be available include:

• Bellmawr, Bordentown, Edgewater Park (operated by Curaleaf)
• Neptune (pending final zoning approval), Elizabeth, Lawrence (operated by Verano, which uses the Zen Leaf banner)
• Bloomfield, Paterson (operated by GTI, which uses the banner RISE)
• Vineland, Deptford (operated by Columbia Care)
• Fort Lee, Rochelle Park, Montclair (operated by Ascend)
• Egg Harbor Township, Atlantic City (operated by Acreage)
• Phillipsburg, Maplewood, Lodi (operated by TerrAscend)

These retails were given conditional licenses to operate while smaller cultivators and manufacturers build out their facilities, which could take up to a year.

According to Brown, the CRC will bypass the standard 30-day notification period for sales to commence at the alternative treatment centers. The approved locations need only to complete four items before starting adult-use sales, which could be sooner or later than 40 days, depending on the retailer.

Governor Phil Murphy is hopeful recreational sales will be up and running as soon as possible.

“I think it’s a matter of — I don’t want to say days — I would think this is within a week or two. … They’re ready to go. I think that’s gonna be very soon,” said Gov. Murphy.

The Garden State will now be the 16th state in the country, and the third on the east coast, to fully legalize adult-use cannabis.

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