The Cannabis Regulatory Commission says buyers are moving away from the black market
Sales of recreational cannabis soared in New Jersey in the first quarter of 2024. Sales in dispensaries across the state totaled a record $201 million, an increase of about 38% compared to the same period in 2023.
The state Cannabis Regulatory Commission attributed the increase in sales to a shift in consumer behavior, with buyers moving away from black market purchases and toward a safer, regulated market. The commission expects sales to continue to increase as more dispensaries open.
An Emmy award-winning journalist, Briana Vannozzi serves as the anchor for NJ Spotlight News, the newsroom of NJ PBS. She's worked in several capacities since joining the news division in 2012, as interim anchor and senior correspondent after years of general assignment reporting as a multimedia journalist. Vannozzi began her television journalism career by cutting her teeth on New Jersey State House politics for New Jersey Network News, and later as a news radio correspondent at FM News 101.9 covering crime and politics in New York City. Her work has taken her to national presidential nominating conventions, Capitol Hill, up and down the East Coast and every corner of the Garden State. She's interviewed every New Jersey governor dating back to Jon Corzine and moderated numerous political debates and forums. Her work has also earned awards from the New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists and the Philadelphia Press Association. A Burlington County native, she's honored to be serving and covering her home state and raising her family there.
