New Jersey’s governor says legal weed sales could begin within weeks

By Maureen Meehan

After missing a self-imposed deadline to open the state to legal marijuana sales, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) said the state is “within weeks” busy eliminating existing medicinal cannabis -Dispensaries selling recreational cannabis to adults 21 and older.

“If I had to predict, within weeks — March, I would hope — we would see an implied movement in medical dispensaries, some of which can sell free time,” Murphy said during his radio show on WBGO in Newark. “They have to prove they have the supplies for their medical clients. My hope is that independent recreational marijuana operators will emerge shortly after that.”

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New Jersey voters overwhelmingly approved the legalization of recreational marijuana in November 2020, but sales haven’t started after more than a year.

The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC), which is responsible for regulating the new industry, is still reviewing license applications. The panel missed a self-imposed February 22 deadline to open the state to adult use of cannabis.

To date, there are 23 medical cannabis dispensaries in New Jersey, selling to the state’s more than 120,000 registered patients.

“One of the biggest shortcomings we see is the lack of municipal approval,” Jeff Brown, head of the CRC, said at a meeting in January. “It’s a problem, and supply remains a problem. It is the CRC’s priority to start recreational sales as soon as possible, but we must do so in a way that is compliant with the law. We need industry to get there.”

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Meanwhile, several medical marijuana suppliers have openly complained that the state is taking too long to approve their applications to serve the legal market. Some have even threatened to lay off workers and destroy cannabis products if the adult market doesn’t open soon.

This article originally appeared on Benzinga and has been republished with permission.