New Jersey regulators approved the first 18 annual adult-use cannabis business licenses for the state’s marijuana market.
According to a Thursday news release, the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) approved eight applications for annual licenses and another 10 applications to convert existing conditional permits to annuals.
Conditional licenses are an important step for those new businesses to work on securing real estate and financing, gaining municipal approvals and, ultimately, receiving annual licenses.
“With the awarding of eight cultivation licenses and three manufacturing licenses we are setting good groundwork for New Jersey’s cannabis market,” the commission’s chair, Dianna Houenou, said in a statement.
“We hope to see these facilities up and running as soon as possible to be local Garden State suppliers to the seven retailers who also got their annuals today and the others that will be licensed in the future.”
Recreational marijuana sales in New Jersey launched on April 21 through seven existing medical cannabis operators.
The eight new cultivation licenses are expected to help ease ongoing supply concerns.
The CRC also:
- Approved 297 more conditional licenses, bringing to 801 the total number of such permits awarded since March.
- Extended the length of time for certain conditional licensees to apply for conversion to an annual license.
- Increased the Social Equity Excise Fee that cultivators will pay for 2023 to $1.52 per ounce, up from $1.10 per ounce.
