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For the second time in the past four months, cannabis business behemoth Curaleaf is reducing its cultivation footprint in one of the newest adult-use markets in the country.
The New York-based multistate operator, which has more than 5,000 employees nationwide, announced this week that it’s laying off 49 workers at its Winslow cultivation and production facility in southern New Jersey. This facility became fully operational in 2021 in anticipation of the state’s adult-use sales launch, which happened in April 2022.
In the aftermath of the decision by the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) to rescind its previous vote denying the renewal of adult-use licenses to the industry’s largest MSO – an about-face one could see coming a mile away – Curaleaf CEO Matt Darin and Chairman Boris Johnson issued a public proclamation declaring a decisive victory over a vanquished enemy, as if they had just stormed the beach at Normandy. Even in victory, however, their celebratory comments could barely contain the contempt they still have for the CRC.
In a stunning move, New Jersey regulators on Thursday stripped away the right to sell legal weed to recreational customers from one of the world's largest cannabis companies.
Curaleaf, with nearly 150 dispensaries in the United States, will be required to halt all recreational marijuana sales at its Bellmawr and Edgewater Park dispensaries as of April 21 after the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission voted to deny a renewal of its annual license, with two "no" votes, two abstentions and just one "yes" vote.
Cannabis regulators on Thursday denied Curaleaf, the biggest player in New Jersey’s nascent cannabis industry, a renewal of the license that allows it to grow and sell recreational marijuana in the Garden State.
The vote represents a surprising blow to the cannabis giant, and comes just about a week before the first anniversary of recreational weed sales in the state. It left observers stunned, and a representative of Curaleaf seeking help from the attorney general and wondering aloud about legal action.
Several dozen people employed in New Jersey’s legal cannabis business are wondering if the magic has worn off of marijuana even before the state’s first high fully kicks in.
Curaleaf, currently the biggest player in the Garden State’s weed field, has announced that it will close its cultivation facility in Bellmwar and combine it with another grow location in Winslow Township. Curaleaf’s retail shop in Bellmawr will remain open and will not undergo any layoffs, but up to 40 workers at the cultivation center could lose their jobs.
