New Jersey earns praise for start of recreational cannabis sales

The start of adult recreational cannabis sales was put off recently when the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission chose to delay a vote to allow a number of dispensaries to begin sales.

The reason for the delay, according to testimony from CRC Executive Director Jeff Brown, was lack of proof that there was enough cannabis stock for both medical patients and prospective recreational customers, Asbury Park Press reported.

“I honestly think the way New Jersey is progressing is the right way of doing things,” Ed DeVeaux, president of the New Jersey CannaBusiness Association, told The Center Square. “I don’t see what has occurred as a delay as much as I see it as – maybe let’s call it the unintended consequence of actually getting closer to our regulatory and legislative intent.”

New Jersey has made a goal of making sure people from marginalized backgrounds are given a seat at the table, according to the governor as reported by APP.

DeVeaux said if the commission had flipped the switch early it would have put the state farther away from its social equity goals.

In fact, a deadline for starting recreational sales was never actually given, DeVeaux said.

“There were certain expectations that the market would’ve been opened at least to adult-use sales, but I think it was expectations,” he said.

While some businesses working toward opening may experience some harm from the deferral, DeVeaux said it wasn’t intentional on the part of the commission and people must remember there is risk in starting a business.

On the whole, DeVeaux said he thinks the CRC has done a commendable job getting itself together. He points to the fact that it took the Legislature four years to fail to get a legalization bill passed and then shoved it off on the voters to get it done.

“In those terms, what we should be saying to ourselves is, ‘my gosh, it took the Legislature over four years to accomplish cannabis legalization, and we have a commission that is just a little over a year old that has already issued regulation and as of March 24th, actually issued the state’s very first recreational approvals for licenses – 68 of them to exact,’” he said. “I think that’s pretty good considering that none of this existed in the past.”