The planned expansion of New Jersey’s medical marijuana sector could be delayed after the state Department of Health hit a legal snag.
Earlier this year the Garden State announced it would issue 108 extra licenses to cannabis businesses, comprising 54 dispensary licenses, 30 processing permits, and 24 cultivation licenses. It received 190 applications for those 24 cultivation licenses and it disqualified 51 of them for reasons ranging from corrupted files to lack of local approval, lack of site control and the non-payment of fees.
However, five applicants joined forces to mount a legal challenge. Attorney Joshua Bauchner filed on behalf of the five groups last week, claiming around 25 applicants were unfairly penalized because a Department of Health glitch prevented their file attachments from being opened.
A two-judge panel has now granted a motion for a stay in the review process. It means the Department must halt its review of the remaining applicants, of which there are almost 150.