New Jersey will begin accepting applications to run legal weed businesses next month, bringing the state closer to opening dispensaries and selling marijuana to the public. The Cannabis Regulatory Commission will open the application process to cannabis growers, processors, and testing labs on December 15.
There are no deadlines to file applications. The commission will accept them on a rolling basis. Only cultivation licenses have a cap: 37 new licenses can be issued between Feb. 2021 and Feb. 2023.
The cannabis legalization law mandates legal sales begin by mid-February or six months after the commission adopted its initial rules, but without new businesses, it is unlikely the state will set a start date for sales by then.
New Jersey currently has only medical cannabis dispensaries and growers. They will get the first shot at selling to the public once they certify they have enough cannabis to meet patient and public demand and pay fees to expand their licenses to the recreational market, although they say they could start selling to the public now, and that they have an excess amount of cannabis stocked up.
Read the complete article at nj.com.