But there’s also bad news: when it comes to ensuring equity in the growing cannabis market in New Jersey, the gap is wide between promises made and promises delivered. A key policy goal touted by the state has been its commitment to creating a cannabis industry that benefits communities that have historically faced the disproportionate brunt of the war on drugs — mainly low income Black and Latino communities. During prohibition, Black people in New Jersey were 3.5 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than white people, despite Black and white people using marijuana at similar rates. These racial disparities in arrests were not because of differences in consumption rates. Rather, they were driven by policing and broader criminal justice practices. The Cannabis Regulatory Commission, which oversees cannabis licenses in the state, has repeatedly stated that creating equity is one of its key goals, including by prioritizing “social equity businesses.”
Yet so far these well-meaning promises have not translated into equity on the ground. Business applicants from local communities that have been harmed by decades of a failed war on marijuana now must compete with multi-state businesses that have significant access to resources and to capital. As a consequence, it has been incredibly difficult for people who are living in the state with arrest records that resulted from the war on drugs to now be able to profit from the scaling back of that unjust war. According to NJ Advance Media, all 19 recreational cannabis dispensaries in New Jersey are owned by eight multi-state operators.
In general, it is very expensive to start a cannabis business, but in New Jersey it is particularly challenging for two reasons: First, real estate prices are high in the state, and second, three out of every four municipalities in New Jersey, including Princeton, have opted out of allowing cannabis businesses in their towns. This in turn has only made the competition for real estate worse. Add the fact that the federal government continues to classify cannabis as a Schedule I drug, and therefore financial institutions will not provide capital to start-up businesses, only the wealthy can enter into the cannabis market in New Jersey.