Legal Marijuana Sales Will Start Next Thursday in New Jersey

All adults will be able to purchase cannabis at certain medical-marijuana dispensaries starting April 21.

The first sales of recreational, adult-use cannabis in New Jersey will start next Thursday, marking the culmination of a yearslong effort to legalize marijuana and to curtail the racially unbalanced penalties for possessing the drug.

At least a half-dozen medical-marijuana dispensaries are planning to open their doors to all adults on April 21 after winning final approval this week from New Jersey’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission.

“This is a historic step,” Gov. Philip D. Murphy wrote Thursday on Twitter as he announced the official start date.

Enthusiasm within the industry was palpable.

Dispensaries in Bloomfield and Paterson, which are both about 20 miles from Midtown Manhattan, were making plans to entertain customers waiting in line with a D.J., doughnut truck and a steel drum band.

“The end of prohibition is coming to New Jersey,” said Ben Kovler, chief executive of Green Thumb Industries, which operates both dispensaries. “We’re prepared for a tidal wave of demand.”

He estimated that New Jersey, the second state on the East Coast to begin adult-use sales, could eventually become a $3 billion industry.

“The war on drugs was a failure for people of color,” he said. “This is going to create a lot of wealth, for a lot of people.”

While eager for the added revenue, political leaders said they were bracing for the potential for extra crowds and car traffic. [Read More @ The NY Times]