New Jersey will award several new licenses to operate medical marijuana business next week, marking the beginning of the end for a two-year saga that has slowed growth of the state’s cannabis industry.
The Cannabis Regulatory Commission will announce the winners of licenses to grow cannabis as well as for businesses to take on the triple threat of growing, processing and selling it during its public meeting next Friday, Oct. 15.
The expansion could put New Jersey in a better position to begin legal weed sales. While these will be businesses licensed to handle medical marijuana, they can eventually pay fees and go through a process to become eligible to sell marijuana to anyone over the age of 21.
The commission will set a date by which legal sales can begin. But companies who want to sell to the public must first certify they can meet patient and public demand, something that could be challenging without new marijuana growers entering the marketplace.
This licensing round began in mid-2019, and marked the largest attempted expansion of the state’s strained medical marijuana program to date.