Charles Penn

“We are waiting on the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission to approve our conversion application, which was submitted at the end of June,” Dishmen told Patch on Thursday. “As a result, we are anxious to open in Q4 of this year.”

In the meanwhile, The Library continues to hold outreach events and social justice programs, the latest of which is scheduled for the Labor Day weekend.

The doors have been open at the state’s first dozen legal recreational marijuana dispensaries for about three weeks now, but it could be a long time before residents see more businesses like them.

Two marijuana entrepreneurs from Essex County who hope to land one of New Jersey's coveted recreational dispensary licenses will be among the hosts of a virtual "Cannabis Town Hall" on Thursday, March 31.

The virtual event will take place from 6:30 to 8 p.m., and will discuss social equity in the cannabis industry.

Organizers include Corey Dishmen and Charles Penn, the entrepreneurs behind The Library, which is trying to capture a license to run a retail dispensary in West Orange.

What are some of the most important skills for people who want to become "budtenders" in New Jersey's burgeoning legal cannabis industry? Here's what Dishmen and Penn had to say when asked by Patch:

For Corey Dishmen and Charles Penn, the people who make up the "cannabis culture" of New Jersey have always been "100 percent inclusive of everyone." And that goes for the people who work in the marijuana business, too.

But according to the owners of The Library – who are hoping to open New Jersey's first, Black-owned cannabis dispensary in West Orange – there's no denying that the state has a long way to go when it comes to social justice and marijuana.

Corey Dishmen is one of the entrepreneurs behind The Library of New Jersey, a minority-owned company seeking to enter the cannabis market in the Garden State. Along with co-founder, Charles Penn, he's seeking to obtain a retail marijuana dispensary license or micro-license and launch the state's first Black-owned recreational cannabis retail shop.

Dishmen told Patch that The Library is seeking licensing in West Orange.