New Jersey's attorney general announced Tuesday that the state's Division of Consumer Affairs has issued warning letters to four companies for allegedly trying to circumvent local marijuana laws by "gifting" "free" cannabis with orders of high-priced snacks.
While recreational cannabis use for adults 21 and older was approved by New Jersey voters in 2020, the state's Cannabis Regulatory Commission has been slow to establish firm vendors' rules and hand out licenses. In response, impatient would-be vendors are trying to find workarounds.
"In legalizing adult-use cannabis in New Jersey, the Legislature made it clear they were creating a regulated market with restrictions on how that market operates," said Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal in a press release.
"Instead of waiting for those regulations to be established, some vendors have decided to move forward on their own, in ways that the law does not allow. Today we're making it clear that we will not permit these entities to undermine the regulated cannabis marketplace the Legislature created or to compete unfairly with properly licensed cannabis businesses."