Retailers still waiting for cannabis officials to move forward with consumption lounges
The Other Side Dispensary in Jersey City is still waiting on Consumption Lounge approvals by the NJ CRC
It’s been nearly 10 months since the state Cannabis Regulatory Commission approved rules for the operation of cannabis consumption areas in New Jersey, but the commission has yet to discuss the process or open applications for retailers who want to run lounges. Critics say this has led to a lot of frustrated retailers and some to risk-taking business owners using loopholes to host events anyway.
In New Jersey, there are few places for people to smoke besides their own homes, and their options are even more limited if their landlords ban vaping or smoking or if someone lives in federally subsidized housing, said Jessica Gonzalez, a cannabis attorney. It’s not just an economic issue, but also an issue of social justice, social equity, and patient access, she stressed.
Cannabis commission spokeswoman Toni-Anne Blake confirmed the agency hasn’t approved any consumption areas. The next step is for the commission to approve issuing applications for dispensaries that want to open consumption lounges.
Since there is no legislative deadline for the commission to issue these applications, “it is not considered delayed,” Blake said.
Mayor Scott Rudder and Owner of Township Green Dispensary
In spite of the lack of movement from the state agency, people are “getting creative ideas” on how to host consumption events like puff-and-paints, said Scott Rudder, president of New Jersey CannaBusiness Association and owner of Township Green Dispensary in Riverside. People can rent someone’s empty home for a day and host events like this there without worrying about spending thousands on security laid out in the cannabis commission’s rules, he said. This has a negative impact on the industry and spotlights the lack of enforcement, he added.
“There’s really nothing that anybody can do about it, and that’s the problem, and that’s been the problem all along … we see how people just do the workaround,” he said.
No one involved in New Jersey’s cannabis space is surprised at how long it’s taken for applications to be rolled out. Brevard-Rodriguez noted it took her 31 months to get approval to open her dispensary.
But some people like Gonzalez aren’t in a huge rush for the Cannabis Regulatory Commission to start the approval process for consumption lounges. She noted the agency is prioritizing licensing retailers, cultivators, and other operators as new businesses open up every week.