New Jersey To Launch Recreational Sales in a Few Weeks

Gov. Phil Murphy (D) of New Jersey has announced that the state will be launching recreational sales “within weeks.” New Jersey legalized recreational cannabis in 2020 but things have been moving at a snail’s pace ever since, this has been attributed to wanting to “get it perfect” from the get-go. It now appears that the long wait is coming to an end.

The governor was interviewed by WGBO last Thursday and that’s when he made the promise to have the recreational market up and running in a few weeks. For a start, recreational users will have to purchase cannabis from medical dispensaries. However, the dispensaries will be forced to prioritize medical cannabis patients over recreational users. He said, “I would hope in March that you’re going to see explicit movement on the medical dispensaries, some number of them being able to sell recreational.”

Adult-use cannabis was legalized in New Jersey through a ballot measure (Question 1) that was passed in the 2020 General Election. So far, the state has 23 medical cannabis dispensaries that have applied for licenses to sell recreational cannabis as well. Five of these applications have been approved, according to CRC Exec Director Jeff Brown. Brown attributed the slow progression of things to “a lack of municipal approval.” In the course of the year, the state should have stand-alone recreational dispensaries, if all goes as planned.

The recreational cannabis market has huge potential. MJBizDaily reports that the potential value is expected to exceed $2 billion within the first few years. This is bound to become the largest market in the East Coast.