For The First Time, a Medical Marijuana Outlet Gets Approval by N.J. to Begin Selling recreational Weed
The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission gave approval on Friday for a medical marijuana dispensary to begin selling adult recreational weed, a step considered by some as marking the next chapter of the industry’s growth in the state.
The commission approved Harmony Foundation of New Jersey Inc. by a 4-1 vote on Friday to expand into adult recreational marijuana sales at its Secaucus dispensary on Meadowlands Parkway.
The firm’s top executive said the non-profit dispensary, which opened in 2018, is positioned to begin selling adult weed from the Secaucus location within a few weeks.
Harmony’s bid to move into the adult weed world was first reported by NJ Advance Media in late October when Shaya Brodchandel, President and Chief Executive Officer of Harmony, revealed the firm’s expansion plans to become a player in New Jersey’s budding industry. He said then that the plan was to expand to adult weed at Secaucus and then open two satellite dispensaries in Hudson County — in Hoboken and Jersey City.
“This is a historic day for Harmony, and, we believe, for the growing cannabis industry in New Jersey,” Brodchandel said in a statement following the panel vote, taken during the state regulatory agency’s last meeting of this year.
“As the first New Jersey based ATC to expand into the adult-use market we are going to show that cannabis businesses born in this state have the ability to join those multi-state operators and thrive, reinvesting our successes into our local communities,” said Brodchandel. “We have been preparing for this for a long time.”
Up to now all 21 stores that offer medical and adult weed in New Jersey are owned and operated by giant national companies with stores in several states, known as MSOs, which stands for mult-state operators.
Harmony is an alternative treatment center (ATC), one of about two dozen facilities in the state that until now have catered exclusively to medical marijuana patients.
The CRC also approved proposed rules for cannabis operators who want to offer public lounges for people to use cannabis. There will be a 60-day public comment period on the rules posted on the New Jersey Register to provide legal requirements, a fee structure for applicants, details for how the facilities should be run, and what is prohibited.
The lounge rules have been eagerly awaited by municipalities, like Atlantic City, which have been advocating for public cannabis areas to boost the resort’s convention and tourism industries.
The CRC also granted an additional 113 conditional licenses, eight annual licenses, and approved six conversions of conditional to annual licenses to cannabis retailers, cultivators and manufacturing applicants.
New Jersey made the historic leap into the adult recreational marijuana market on April 21. But a recent trade report listed the Garden State as having the fewest stores per capita to supply a population of its size among the 21 states that have now legalized it.
The approval of Harmony’s move to sell adult recreational weed on Friday was seen by some as pivotal for the state’s marijuana supply chain as the eight multi-state operators that have set up shop here have maxed out on the number of stores they can open - three each. Three of the eight MSOs can still open one more store apiece. But collectively, that will only take New Jersey’s store count to 24 selling adult weed.
“We are ready to begin welcoming a new population of clients, while simultaneously giving our long-time patients the same great service they deserve and have become accustomed to,” said Brodchandel in the statement.
Harmony was one of the original six alternative treatment centers approved by the New Jersey Department of Health. The firm began operating under the state’s Medicinal Cannabis Program in June 2018 and has had its permit renewed annually by the state ever since for its Secaucus site. The location is both a cultivation and dispensary facility.
The CRC on Friday also gave approval to expand to growing adult weed at Harmony’s Lafayette location, which is strictly a cultivation and manufacturing site.
As mandated by the CRC, even with its expansion into the recreational marijuana market, Harmony’s CEO said it would give priority to medical patients and their registered caregivers by offering exclusive hours, designated service areas, discount eligibility, delivery services and curbside pickup.
“We have a proven track record of serving the medical cannabis community for many years, and we will not turn our back on those that use our products for health purposes,” Brodchandel said. He noted how Harmony’s medicinal marijuana prices continue to be among the lowest in the state according to regulators.
“Harmony has a commitment to the state and people of New Jersey,” said the CEO. “As Harmony continues to grow, and achieve even greater business success, our core mission will match the intentions of Governor Murphy for the industry and be a force for lifting up others that have previously not been afforded opportunities for entrepreneurial success.”
Click here for the rest of the story!