New Jersey is making it too difficult for cannabis businesses to get off the ground, according to Todd Johnson, executive director of the New Jersey Cannabis Trade Association.
The association released a report this week chastising New Jersey for creating what it calls a “doom loop,” blaming bureaucracy at the state Cannabis Regulatory Commission for delays in licensing and business approvals.
“New Jersey was expected to be stronger than Missouri and Maryland. We were expected to have a billion-dollar-plus market right out of the gate, whereas in our first full year of cannabis legal adult-use cannabis sales, I don’t even think we topped $800 million,” Johnson said.
Ramez Maxemous of URB’N Dispensary in Newark, said, “We could open a pharmacy in three to six months, but a cannabis business takes three to four years to get open … But, you know, I understand that this is a brand new market. And, you know, everybody wants to make sure that we do it the right way, and I support that. But I think it’s definitely too hard.”
Chirali Patel, the founder of the law firm Blaze Responsibly, strongly disagrees with the CTA report. She said the larger issue is municipalities making the approval process overly complicated or not granting approvals at all.
“Investors are following the news. They follow the trends and they see the headlines. And when the headline says, ‘Hey, this is a doom loop,’ money isn’t going to come into our state,” Patel said.
