New Jersey lawmakers are scheduled to hold hearings over delays in bringing cannabis to market

The adult cannabis program in New Jersey has gotten off to a sluggish start as sales are hampered by repeated delays.

Now a top Garden State lawmaker wants answers and is working hard to get them through the work of a committee.

Nick Scutari, the president of the New Jersey state senate, said Tuesday that he is forming a special legislative committee to investigate why legal pot sales in the state still haven’t started.

“These delays are totally unacceptable,” Scutari said in a statement. “We need to get the legal marijuana market up and running in New Jersey. This has become a failure to deliver on the public mission and meet the expectations of new businesses and consumers.”

In a press release, Scutari’s office said it wanted “clarifications on the repeated delays in the expansion of medical dispensaries to sell recreational marijuana and the opening of retail cannabis facilities for adult use” as well as to find out “what can be done.” to meet demand and drive down the cost of medical marijuana.”

In 2020, New Jersey voters overwhelmingly approved an amendment to legalize recreational marijuana use for adults 21 and older. However, nothing has been done as far as legalization is concerned.

Last year, Scutari helped draft and pass legislation to implement the adult use program.

But the new cannabis program has been plagued by repeated delays since passage of that bill, including a missed September deadline to begin accepting applications from prospective cannabis growers, manufacturers and testing labs.

Last month, after New Jersey regulators missed a deadline for recreational cannabis sales to begin, Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy hinted that the launch was imminent.

“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 an interview on a radio show. “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.”

But that plan hit a snag last week when the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission refused to grant licenses to eight medicinal cannabis dispensaries hoping to sell cannabis for adult use.

Jeff Brown, the commission’s executive director, said the panel would like to receive additional information from these medical pharmacies on how they will have enough product to serve both customer groups.

“We may not be 100 percent there today, but I assure you we will get there,” Brown said last week. “There are a few things we need to address and if we do address them, I look forward to returning to this panel with another update.”

Meanwhile, Scutari wants to get to the bottom of the delays. His office said Tuesday his plan was to “form a bipartisan select committee” and then “ask the Assembly if it would like to attend to make it a joint body of lawmakers from both houses.”

“The oversight hearings will include an accounting from CRC officials and input from those conducting cannabis businesses or awaiting licensing, as well as others involved in the legal marijuana market,” the press release from Scutari’s office said.

“Voters approved adult-use recreational marijuana in 2020, and implementing legislation was enacted more than a year ago. The Cannabis Regulatory Commission has missed its approval deadline [medical cannabis dispensaries] sell to the recreational market. Licensing of breeders, distributors and retailers to serve the adult market has been plagued by repeated delays. Senator Scutari said the committee’s membership and schedule will be finalized soon.”