Trenton

Underground Legacy Operator NJWeedman Goes Legit, Gets Green Light To Open Legal Cannabis Dispensary
The Trenton City Council has approved Ed Forchion - a notorious figure in the underground legacy who goes by the nickname NJWeedman - to open a legal New Jersey cannabis dispensary, reported Heady NJ.

The marijuana activist pushed to convert his NJWeedman’s Joint across the street from Trenton City Hall into a legal dispensary under the name NJWeedman’s.

New Jersey’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission, along with several community partners, gathered in Trenton Wednesday to kick off the state’s first campaign promoting safe, legal weed use.

The campaign’s primary goal is to equip the public with information and resources to make informed choices about cannabis consumption, according to the CRC.

These messages will be shared through over 100 digital billboards placed across the state’s highways, as well as in bilingual ads posted in local community hubs and on social media platforms.

Trenton – The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on Friday to discuss issues related to the state’s implementation of the recreational cannabis law, Senator Brian Stack and Senate President Nick Scutari announced today.

The hearing will be held at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, June 23, 2023 in Committee Room 4 of the State House Annex.

With the opening of Simply Pure Trenton in his hometown of Ewing, Tahir Johnson will blaze a new trail as he becomes the first entrepreneur with a cannabis-related conviction to own and operate a legal adult-use dispensary in New Jersey.

Construction is set to wrap up by the end of May with a grand opening scheduled for June, and the well-known 39-year-old cannabis advocate couldn’t be more excited for what’s ahead.

Hours after the stunning April 13 vote – which would have prohibited Curaleaf from selling adult-use cannabis at two of its three storefronts and impacted operations at both of its South Jersey cultivation facilities – the company raised concerns about the decision, requesting a stay to allow time for judicial review.

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.

UPDATE! By the time protestors (and yours truly) got home from Trenton, NJ’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission flip-flopped on their shocking rejection of NJ’s largest Cannabis company’s annual license. Curaleaf basically gets off with a slap on the wrist. Some are calling CRC’s reversal “extraordinary and courageous” while others criticize NJ regulators for making this up on the fly. Curalead’s reprieve is provisional and contingent on promptly striking a better deal with their workers and medical patients. Sophie Nieto-Moñoz rounds up today’s whiplash at New Jersey Monitor.

Consumption lounges are already planned in Atlantic City as well as in Elizabeth, Trenton, and Jersey City, the news site reported.

In Atlantic City specifically, the city designated a new “green zone” for cannabis companies to set up shop in and has not capped any license types. One city official told the news site he’d like to see a consumption lounge attached to every legal dispensary.

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.

The upcoming New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission public meeting on Thursday, October 27 will be held in person at 44 South Clinton Avenue in Trenton at 1 p.m. The meeting will also be livestreamed on the Commission’s YouTube channel.

Seating capacity is limited in the hearing room at the Civil Service Commission building where the meeting will be held. Interested parties are encouraged to continue to watch the meetings online. For public safety, no one will be allowed to enter if the meeting room is at capacity.