A New Jersey court on Wednesday ruled that the state wrongly rejected medical cannabis licenses for several companies and said the system used to rate applicants lacks transparency and creates confusion in the small and competitive cannabis industry.
A three-judge appellate court vacated the 2018 decision to award six licenses for new medical cannabis companies and remanded it to the health department to come up with a new rating system.
While the decision does not necessarily overturn the current medical cannabis license holders who have invested millions in building and opening dispensaries, it could give others a second shot down the road. And it could lay the groundwork for a more transparent licensing process.
It comes as many have criticized the state’s licensing system as too restrictive, resulting in just 12 medical cannabis licenses to serve some 97,000 patients.
Read more at nj.com