New Jersey lawmakers double licenses for cannabis pharmacies |

New Jersey regulators on Tuesday filed for 30 new licenses for new medical cannabis dispensaries, a significant addition to a program that is growing slowly.

The state’s cannabis regulatory commission voted for “more than” [double] the number of retail locations for a growing number of patients who have complained for years about long journeys to get legal cannabis, ”reported NJ.com.

The board of directors distributed the 30 licenses evenly across the Garden State and, according to the website, awarded “10 each in the central, northern, and southern regions of the state.”

The expansion will result in a significant increase in the 23 pharmacies currently serving patients across the state. These stores serve “an average of 5,300 patients per retail location,” reported NJ.com, and “approximately 5,000 patients enroll each month – a pace that has not slowed even with the prospect of a legal market for adult users in 2022”. . “

In October, the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission adopted “the recommendation to approve 14 of the 2019 medical cannabis applications that were previously held due to a court order suspension of the review process,” with “10 cultivation permits and four verticals Integrated Permits “Approved To” Begin Preparations For New Jersey Medical Cannabis Patients “. Due to the increased need for patients, “five more cultivation permits were issued in 2019 than planned,” said the commission.

“Current alternative treatment centers have not kept pace with patient needs,” said Dianna Houenou, chair of the Cannabis Regulatory Commission. “We keep hearing from patients that prices are too high and that there are too few pharmacies with too few product options. The situation has not changed with the legalization of recreational cannabis. Our priority is with our patients and an increase in the planned number of medical cannabis suppliers in the market will bring them great benefit. ”

Last year, New Jersey voters voted for a constitutional amendment to legalize the recreational use of cannabis for adults. NJ.com reported that while the 30 licenses approved Tuesday are for medical cannabis dispensaries, if those companies so choose, “They will have a head start in expanding their customer base to adults 21 and older once the legal market hits sometime in the year Will open in 2022 “. . “

Despite electoral approval of the change, “a bill outlining the legitimate market didn’t arrive on Governor Phil Murphy’s desk until February,” the website said, and the commission “had the first round of regulation coming up.” August have to run “, not introduced.

The commission “will start accepting applications for the adult market on December 15 from breeders, manufacturers and test laboratories for the recreational market and from March 15 from pharmacies,” the website says.

In February, Murphy signed law officially ending cannabis bans in New Jersey.

“Our current marijuana prohibition laws have failed every test of social justice, which is why I have strongly supported the legalization of adult cannabis for years. It is unfair and unjustifiable to maintain a status quo that allows tens of thousands of disproportionately colored people to be arrested in New Jersey each year for minor drug offenses, “Murphy said in a statement after the law was signed.

“This November, New Jersey residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of creating a well-regulated adult cannabis market. Although this process took longer than expected, I believe it ends in the right place and will ultimately serve as a national model. “

The new law, Murphy said, “will create an industry that delivers justice and economic opportunity to our communities while setting minimum standards for safe products and allowing law enforcement to focus their resources on real public safety issues.”