Mayor Reed Gusciora

Mayor Reed Gusciora joined John Dockery and Tahir Johnson outside of Simply Pure Downtown, Tuesday morning to celebrate the business being awarded a Class 5 Cannabis Dispensary license. According to NJ.gov, this license allows Dockery to purchase recreational cannabis from licensed cultivators, manufacturers, or wholesalers and sell those items to consumers in a retail store.

Trenton recently passed a Cannabis Ordinance that would increase the town's number of dispensaries to 10.

Businesses will also be allowed to operate downtown.

Trenton’s ordinance, which has gone through several changes, would allow five dispensaries in three existing business zones in the city, with the downtown business district excluded.

The ordinance has its first reading Thursday in front of City Council.

It’s not what Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora’s administration originally wanted. They proposed 10 dispensaries and the downtown included, but as it’s currently written it’ll at least get Trenton started by allowing it to regulate cannabis dispensaries and collect taxes from such businesses.

Mayor W. Reed Gusciora today encouraged Trenton residents to attend the virtual Trenton Planning Board Special Meeting on Monday, June 28, 2021 at 6:00 p.m., which will include public discussion on a new draft ordinance that will govern cannabis licensing for businesses in Trenton.

The draft ordinance establishes licensing rules for cannabis businesses in the City, including regulations on emissions, material disposal, and facility safety. It also seeks to establish a two percent tax on the sale of cannabis products.

As mayor of Trenton and an original sponsor of the bill permitting adult-use marijuana, I wholeheartedly support such legislation currently under consideration by the state Senate (S2703) and Assembly (A4497). The legislation will do a lot of good for New Jersey as a whole and, specifically, for urban centers around the state in the way of economic opportunities and social justice concerns.

Eight years later, medical marijuana has indeed become big business in the Garden State, with some of the dispensaries pushing the limits of the nonprofit law. Two of the dispensaries have struck agreements with out-of-state, for-profit corporations to manage operations, while leaders of a third formed a pair of for-profit businesses affiliated with the dispensary. Another dispensary pays rent for a building owned by its chief executive.

From economic to social justice, the focus of “Greening Up the Garden State: Responsible Cannabis Policy N.J.” was almost 180 degrees from some of the dire opinions and questions asked at “Marijuana Legalization: A State & Local Perspective.”

It shouldn’t be surprising that Al Harrington, co-founder of Viola Brands, used a basketball metaphor to talk about the need for diversity in the cannabis industry.

After all, the New Jersey native is a former first-round NBA draft pick and played 16 seasons, before launching an extract brand.

“It’s like playing the Golden State Warriors and giving them a 30-point lead heading into the fourth quarter,” Harrington told the more than 200 people at CannaGather NJ in Trenton on Oct. 30.

Harrington was emphasizing the need for the industry to be more inclusive.

City Council voted unanimously to OK an ordinance change that would allow the city to set up a medical marijuana dispensary in a designated redevelopment zone.

The move comes as lawmakers consider legalizing adult recreational marijuana use, as part of the Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s push to legalize pot across the state.

The council’s decision to allow a dispensary to set up shop in a certain part of the city was a stark change from a few years ago when Marge Caldwell-Wilson’s resolution to legalize marijuana across the state fell on deaf ears.