Let’s start with the first cannabis question on everyone’s mind: How soon will people be able to buy legal recreational marijuana in New Jersey?
I suspect this time next year will be the earliest you’ll be able to walk in and buy recreational cannabis at a retailer or order online for home delivery in New Jersey.
Can small businesses and mom-and-pops without previous experience join in the green rush? The law calls for 37 initial licensees.
We hope it will be a lot more than 37 licenses. The “37″ really contemplates just the grow side of the operation — the mostly large, well-capitalized groups that have the expertise and the wherewithal to set up these large marijuana producers.
But that’s not only what New Jersey regulatory structure contemplates. Eventually, you’ll see more focus on the development of micro-licenses — that’s outside the 37 cap — and one exciting point we’ll see is the development of a craft cannabis economy.
Look at what’s gone on in the craft brew industry. These craft breweries are exploding in popularity right now.
So you see niches for small business?
I see multiple opportunities. There’s always going to be big dogs. But the struggle for New Jersey was carving out space for the little guy. There’s a focus on that in this legislation.
What opportunities do you see?
Anything from a manufacturing facility creating edibles, or metered-dose inhalers, or transdermal patches in the medicals realm. You may see small bakeshops or candy shops developing new forms of edibles for either the adult-use or the medical space.