With rumblings that New Jersey legislators could vote to legalize marijuana for recreational use within the next month, interest in launching cannabis businesses in the Garden State has never been higher.
Ellie Siegel, a Philadelphia lawyer and cannabis consultant, wants to ensure that minorities and women get a chance to participate in the state’s emerging weed economy. Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York and Maryland are also weighing legalizing marijuana this year for adult use.
Of the six businesses awarded new Alternative Treatment Centers by the Department of Health, Justice Grown is the least well known.
“We are the – I’m not going to say mom-and-pop – but we are the smaller guy playing in a very, very big market,” Justice Grown NJ CEO Jamil Taylor tells NJ Cannabis Media. “We were founded by social justice attorneys that believe that cannabis is a social justice issue. We feel diversity and inclusion are a very, very big piece of our business and our branding. Hence the term Justice Grown.”
A month after the New Jersey Department of Health doubled the amount of Alternative Treatment Centers, it is already planning to expand further.
“Twelve is not enough,” was the blunt assessment by Jeff Brown, assistant health commissioner in charge of the medicinal marijuana program told an audience of more than 125 at the New Jersey Business & Industry Association’s “Cannabis Economy: Are You Ready” event at the National Conference Center in East Windsor on Jan. 23.
New Jersey Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Shereef Elnahal told hospital administrators, doctors, nurses, social workers and others at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, City Campus about how medical marijuana is a safe and effective treatment that should be considered as a tool in care.
“I hope I can convince more physicians to at least participate or consider enrolling in this program,” he said at the city hospital Wednesday.
Anzalone, 66, was one of the first physicians to register with the New Jersey medical marijuana program in 2012. He has registered over 3,000 patients for the program — over 2,000 are active patients — while the average physician registered with the state medical marijuana program has a patient roll of just 45, the state Attorney General's office said in a news release.
A New Jersey physician who wrote thousands of recommendations for medical marijuana had his license suspended by the state Wednesday and was ordered to cease practicing medicine altogether by February 8.
Unfortunately, Bill S10 has fallen victim to the acrimony between Gov. Phil Murphy and state Sen. Steve Sweeney, both of whom are Democrats. Will the governor and senate majority leader play nice for once and pass it into law? Their track record suggests not.
Despite Gov. Murphy’s and Sen. Sweeney’s shared leadership with the state party in power, they’ve accomplished very little in the post-Christie era, thanks in large part to their personal clashes. Sen. Sweeney insists on tethering medical cannabis reform to the larger, more complicated adult-use legalization debate.
The entities listed below have received initial approval from the Department of Health for their applications to operate an alternative treatment center.
An approved application does not comprise a license, permit or other approval to open and operate an alternative treatment center. Permission to operate is granted to successful applicants only after DOH completes a series of reviews and inspections of their facilities, procedures and products.
The 146 applications were reviewed by a six-person committee consisting of four DOH representatives and one each from the Departments of Agriculture and Treasury. Their expertise included medical marijuana, ATC regulation, lab testing, plant science, diversity and procurement. Prior to scoring the applications, committee members received implicit bias training from the state’s Chief Diversity Officer to ensure an impartial selection process.
State officials are continuing to review 146 applications that have been submitted by representatives of entities which are seeking authorization to open and operate alternative treatment centers in three regions of New Jersey.
An alternative treatment center sells marijuana that is used by individuals to treat illnesses which have been diagnosed by medical professionals.
Each application that was submitted to state officials consists of about 300 pages, according to the New Jersey Department of Health website.