The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) voted not to renew state marijuana business licenses for Curaleaf Holdings, a move the multistate operator is vowing to fight.
The regulators’ decision on Thursday comes weeks after Curaleaf announced it was closing a cultivation facility in Bellmawr, New Jersey.
CRC board members “cited the closure, along with the company’s clash with unionization and its lack of transparency with the state, as reasons for rejecting Curaleaf’s license renewal,” according to nonprofit news outlet New Jersey Monitor.
In a Friday news release, Curaleaf said the action affected the renewal of its “cultivation and retail licenses for adult-use.”
Curaleaf Chair Boris Jordan called the decision “very disappointing,” noting that the CRC board’s decision not to renew the licenses “overrode the commission’s own staff recommendation that our adult use licenses be renewed.”
“We believe the CRC Board has wrongly interpreted the applicable regulations and that its decision to retaliate against Curaleaf for our need to consolidate production into one local facility is lacking in merit.”
Curaleaf said it would “continue working with the CRC Board and its staff to ensure renewal of our adult use licenses, including by any legal means necessary.”
New York-headquartered Curaleaf will be able to continue selling recreational cannabis until April 21, the Monitor reported.
“It remains unclear what the change means for its customers seeking medical marijuana, what happens to the company’s stores in Bellmawr, Edgewater Park, and Bordentown, and whether the company can appeal the decision,” according to the news outlet.
