New Jersey Senate President Nick Scutari (D) says that delays in rolling out the state’s adult-use marijuana market are unacceptable, and he will be forming a special legislative committee to explore the issue through oversight hearings.
There’s been a mix of feelings about the timeline for legalization implementation among stakeholders. As regulators have worked to approve the first round of licenses, some advocates have pushed for expediency while others feel it’s important not to rush the process to ensure that the industry that emerges is equitable and not dominated by large corporations.
But it has been nearly a year and a half since voters approved a legalization referendum at the ballot and the legislature passed implementation legislation. New Jersey regulators were expected to approve a first round of adult-use retail licenses for certain existing medical cannabis dispensaries last week, but they decided against it.
While Gov. Phil Murphy (D) has urged patience and insisted that the adult-use market will open within “weeks,” Scutari said in a press release on Tuesday that the “delays are totally unacceptable.”