The state’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) will begin accepting applications for recreational cannabis businesses beginning on Dec. 15.
At today’s New Jersey State League of Municipalities Conference in Atlantic City, the chair and executive director of the CRC discussed application and licensing rules and processes, including the types of businesses that will initially receive priority review of applications.
Before a packed conference room at the Atlantic City Convention Center, Dianna Houenou, CRC chair, said two types of recreational cannabis licenses will be given: conditional and annual.
“The annual license is the bread and butter of what we typically think of when someone is applying for a license. It gives business owners the authority to operate the cannabis operation year round,” Houenou said.
The newer conditional license delivers more of a provisional approval from the CRC. This is a license the commission can issue to applicants even if they haven’t identified a property and still have to work with a municipality in order to get necessary approvals and processes in place.
“The conditional license is meant to give applicants extra time to get all of their ducks in a row. … They then have 120 days to meet the additional requirements for the annual license,” Houenou commented.