Let’s take a quick look at what’s really going on with cannabis businesses in New Jersey. The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission is responsible for issuing the guidelines and license approvals required to operate a cannabis business in New Jersey.
According to MJ Biz Daily, New Jersey has the potential to be a $2 Billion cannabis market. In the first month recreational sales were permitted, $24 million of product was sold to customers in New Jersey. Now, these products could only be sold by medical ATCs who applied to convert to become adult-use retailers. Sales numbers can only go up from here. To date, no exclusive adult-use cannabis businesses have been licensed to become plant touching and operational. The Commission has been approving many Conditional applicants, but those applications only permit awardees to continue the application process through another application called a Conversion to Annual Application. Upon being approved for that application, businesses can begin to build out and request final inspections from the Commission to become operational. We are likely still weeks out from seeing any adult-use cultivation, manufacturing, or retail facility annual applications being approved.
This would be a great time to prepare and submit applications for cannabis business licenses in New Jersey. The Commission continues to refine their review processes and continue to increase their speed of review. At the Commission meeting in September, Jeff Brown mentioned that they will review a majority of applications by the end of this fall. This increase in review speed benefits applicants applying now as they will not need to hold on to properties or pay other carrying costs for as long as initial applicants have been.
Looking for some advice on entering the New Jersey cannabis market? Call the cannabis consultants to the consultants, Canna Business Services, today!
