NJ marijuana dispensaries want to sell legal weed. So what’s the hold up?

Nearly one year after marijuana was legalized in New Jersey and officials are still mum on when adults 21 years or older will be able to purchase legal weed — and one key group of stakeholders is losing patience.

New Jersey medical marijuana operators are chomping at the bit for the Cannabis Regulatory Commission to give them the all-clear to “flip the switch” and begin selling cannabis to anyone 21 years or older, not just registered patients with a medical marijuana card.

Four alternative treatment centers — the state’s term for a vertically-integrated medical marijuana operation, from seed to sale — have already submitted “conversion” applications to the CRC, the first step toward winning state approval to begin selling marijuana recreationally.

Officials and experts have long said that medical marijuana dispensaries will be able to sell to recreational patients far earlier than any recreational-only dispensary would open in New Jersey.

“Everyone thinks they have a better mousetrap,” said Patrik Jonsson, northeast regional president for Curaleaf, one of the world’s largest marijuana growers, manufacturers and retailers, including three locations in South Jersey. “No state has perfected this, so thinking you’ll get a perfect 10 on day no. 1 is asinine. All you want is a program that’s 90% there — the medical program with some common sense tweaks. [Read more at Asbury Park Press]