The first recreational pharmacies in New Jersey will open on April 21st

These are the 13 medical providers licensed to start selling weed to all adults

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced on Twitter that legal weed will be available starting April 21st. The first 13 dispensaries allowed to sell adult-use cannabis in New Jersey are preparing for final site inspections and paying royalties to get started on the Garden State’s recreational market next week.

On Monday, NJ’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) initially said opening days for each location would vary depending on when operators completed the final steps in licensing, but today’s announcement confirms that at least some of the 13 approved facilities are next will start selling to adults this week.

The legislation allows alternative treatment centers (ATCs), which are national companies that have served medical patients in New Jersey for years, to expand and begin selling to all adults in the recreational market.

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At a special meeting of the CRC Monday, multi-state operators including Curaleaf, Columbia Care and Verano shared with the board their plans to protect access for medical patients, support social justice goals and update labor policies. In March, the CRC postponed plans to approve these ATCs until they demonstrated compliance with updated operational standards. They also wanted to ensure each provider had sufficient supplies to meet recreational demand without disrupting medical access.

The CRC said in a press release that the list of pharmacies that will receive licenses on April 21 will be published on the commission’s website once the ATCs complete the final licensing steps.

These are the 13 dispensaries where New Jersey residents can buy legal weed starting April 21st.

The first 13 legal weed dispensaries in New Jersey

Here are the first pharmacies open on April 21, 2022 for all adults aged 21 and over:

1. Curaleaf (Bellmawr, NJ)
2. Curaleaf (Edgewater Park, NJ)
3. Columbia Care (Vineland, NJ)
4. Cannabist (Deptford, NJ) owned by Columbia Care
5. The Botanist (Egg Harbor Township, NJ) owned by Acreage Holdings
6. The Botanist (Williamstown, NJ) owned by Acreage Holdings
7. Zen Leaf (Elizabeth, NJ) owned by Verano
8. Zen Leaf (Lawrence, NJ) owned by Verano
9. Ascend Wellness (Rochelle Park, NJ)
10. The Apothecary (Phillipsburg, NJ) owned by TerrAscend
11. The Apothecary (Maplewood, NJ) owned by TerrAscend
12. RISE (Paterson, NJ) owned by GTI New Jersey
13. RISE (Bloomfield, NJ) owned by GTI New Jersey

NJ’s CREAMM Act allows medicinal cannabis companies (ATCs) to expand their services into the recreational market, while the CRC authorizes recreational-only dispensaries. The CRC has publicly committed to measuring these ATCs for “diversity in hiring and management, support for community programs, the number of new and local businesses they provide technical support to, and the percentage of vendors or minority-owned suppliers they work with.” Make contracts, evaluate, among other things.”

Who’s next?

When the Rec-Market opens in New Jersey on April 21, shoppers from New York, Pennsylvania and other neighboring states are expected to flood the tri-state area’s premier adult dispensaries.

Not all medical companies that requested an extension were approved Monday. AYR Wellness was denied but posted on Twitter that they are confident of getting approval at the next meeting.

“We are disappointed with the NJ CRC’s decision today not to authorize Ayr to begin selling adult-use cannabis in our 3 open dispensaries. We were notified that our submitted application was complete and had every expectation that we would be part of the first approved cohort.”

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On Monday, the CRC also approved 34 conditional license applications for grower and manufacturer licenses. This brings the number of conditional licenses approved so far to 102, many of which are expected to be open by the end of the year.

Conditional license recipients now have approximately four months to find a site, obtain a local operating permit, and apply for an annual license. Conditional licenses are a way for small businesses to get into the industry before larger operators get annual licenses.

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