Opinion| Nearly 50 Weed Stores Are Now Open. The Time to Invest in N.J.’s Cannabis Industry is Now
Over the past few weeks we saw a bevy of cannabis activity, from expansion of products to the approval of more licenses to the opening of new dispensaries. These combination of events and action, coupled with the work of the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) to date, shows that now is the perfect time to invest in New Jersey’s cannabis industry.
A look at some basic facts tells the true story of the industry. Since the license application process opened in December 2021, the CRC has received thousands of applications. They have approved over 1,300 of those applications, including nearly 300 licenses for cultivation, manufacturing and retail stores. The CRC has done all this while establishing a new government agency, which in and of itself is not easy. Along the way more staff and resources have been added to help them in their goals.
The number of dispensaries in the state has grown substantially, from 18 at this time last year to nearly 50 today. Most recently, Puffin in New Brunswick and Queen City in Plainfield, two of the state’s newest dispensaries, came online. Over the last two months we have also seen expansion into Ocean and Morris counties.
This ever-expanding list makes sense when you consider the amount of time it takes to grow, cultivate and manufacture cannabis products and throw in the time it takes to set up a business itself. This can all take well over half a year. It stands to reason that as more businesses receive their licenses and more time passes, we will see more cannabis products on the shelves.License expansion is also on the horizon, with wholesale, distribution and delivery licenses soon to become availablefor social equity applicants (those harmed by the drug war), and then to everyone else. More products will soon be available as well after the CRC expanded the list of allowable cannabis-infused products to include chocolates, baked goods, butters, jams and beverages at their last meeting.All of this activity is occurring, meanwhile, as New Yorkstruggles to get its cannabis industry off the ground and Pennsylvania debates whether to legalize recreational cannabis at all. New Jersey is flourishing at just the right time.CONTINUE READING THIS ARTICLE HERE