N.J. legal weed sales unlikely to start in February; state may miss key deadline

While promising to open New Jersey’s legal cannabis consumer market, the state may not meet a self-imposed deadline originally set for late February.

Jeff Brown, the executive director of the state Cannabis Regulatory Commission, said a number of factors are still in the way before the doors can open, including lack of municipal buy-in.

“There’s still a lot to be done,” Brown told NJ Cannabis Insider ahead of today’s CRC meeting, scheduled to start at 1 p.m. “Feb. 22 is not a concrete date to open. There is no firm commitment on timing of when recreational sales will begin.”

State legislation, S-21, directed the CRC to begin allowing sales on that date — six months after rules and regulations were established by the commission.

However, there are few, if any ways of enforcing the deadline, according to one legal expert. Executives at the New Jersey Cannabis Trade Association, which represents current licensed cannabis growers and sellers, have for months been putting pressure on the the state to open the market with assurances that there is enough weed for medical patients and general consumers.

“We’re going to keep pushing to move as fast as we can” to open, said Brown in the same phone interview. “That requires approval and industry readiness, and the readiness is uneven. [Read more at NJ.com]