More than three years after the first legal statewide sales of recreational marijuana, New Jersey has made a significant step in permitting places where people can legally consume cannabis in public.
Last week, New Jersey’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission endorsed four consumption dispensaries after each dispensary filled out forms, paid permits and secured permission from their municipalities.
Ramez Maxemous, founder and COO of URB’N Dispensary in Newark, said he sent in his application 18 months ago.
“We were just watching a meeting like we always do, and then they pulled up the screen with the consumption approvals and we went berserk in here,” he said. “Everybody was celebrating, jumping up and down. We had no clue we were going to get approved.”
Maxemous says the regulations for “cannabis lounges” are similar to those of cigar lounges, which must be enclosed spaces with proper ventilation.
“It’s the same ventilation system,” he said. “It’s always clearing out smoke and odors, and it’s always pumping in fresh oxygen while maintaining temperature.”
The other dispensaries to receive approval for consumption areas are Gynsyng Dispensary in Merchantville and two businesses in Atlantic City – High Rollers Dispensary and SunnyTien Dispensary.
The Atlantic City Cannabis Commission said in a statement that the city’s marijuana lounges “signal a more dynamic, hospitality-driven future for legal cannabis in the state.”
