The requests date from last summer, when New Jersey decided to grant an additional 24 medical cannabis business licenses. That was a much lower number than anticipated -- previously, state officials had pledged to award 108 new permits.
New Jersey legalized medical cannabis, albeit with a number of restrictions, in 2010. It does not currently allow recreational use; recent efforts to do so have stalled, although a referendum on the matter will be on state ballots in November's election cycle.
These latest developments in the state do not have a significant impact on publicly traded marijuana stocks, whose presence there is minimal. Curaleaf (OTC:CURLF) has a single dispensary in the town of Bellmawr. Outside of Curaleaf, dispensary operators tend to be small, privately held enterprises.
On Thursday, Curaleaf stock closed down by nearly 3%.