New Jersey CRC Recommends Eliminating Cap on Cultivation Licenses

New Jersey’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) recommended eliminating the current cap on the number of cannabis cultivation licenses at its February 8, 2023 meeting, among other actions.  If that recommendation is adopted, the current limit of 37 licenses would expire on February 22, 2023.   According to the CRC, there are only 17 cultivation licenses and awarding additional licenses would help spur New Jersey’s cannabis market.

“The market is developing, and we don’t want to hinder that. The New Jersey canopy is currently only 418,000 square feet – far below the average of other states with legal cannabis. New Jersey currently has only one cultivation license for every 197,000 residents. The national average is one license for every 31,000 residents. We have a lot of room to grow. We expect that lifting the cap will open the space for more cultivators, ultimately resulting in more favorable pricing and better access for patients and other consumers,” Commissioner Maria Del Cid-Kosso stated. 

New Jersey Enacts Bill Permitting NJEDA to Make Financial Incentives Available to Certain Cannabis Businesses

The continuing federal prohibition of marijuana has made cannabis entrepreneurs in New Jersey rely on personal funds or private financing to get their projects up and running.  This has put up a significant barrier to entry into the market for many license applicants. In effort to free up financing while various bills continue to be introduced at the federal level, Governor Murphy signed bill S2945 on June 30, 2022, enacted as P.L.2022, c.48., which permits the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) to extend financial incentives to certain cannabis businesses as detailed below. 

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Bringing it all Back Home: Cannabis and Zoning

Source: The New Jersey Law Journal

I. Introduction

New Jersey’s recreational cannabis market is finally here and in full swing.  As the market continues to grow, cannabis license applicants must consider how zoning will impact their contemplated business operations in any given New Jersey municipality.  In short, although a license may permit you to operate a cannabis business, zoning will dictate where, when, and “how” – – that is, what conditions are attached to your operation.

To aid applicants in the real estate and zoning component of their businesses and cannabis license applications, this article broadly details the relevant zoning provisions of the Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act (CREAMMA or the Act) and New Jersey’s Municipal Land Use Law, the primary zoning legislation in New Jersey, together with issues that both applicant and lawyer alike should consider when applying to a land use board to obtain approval.

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