New Jersey is preparing to start getting high on its own supply, more than a year after voters approved recreational marijuana, Reuters reports.
Residents aged 21 and up will be able to legally purchase marijuana beginning on Thursday, following a decade-long campaign by supporters to legalize recreational use and halt years of racially disparate criminal prosecution.
This Thursday, one day after the unofficial cannabis celebration known as 4/20, marijuana dispensaries are anticipating a large number of customers. Green Thumb Industries’ dispensaries will open at 6 a.m. in Paterson and Bloomfield, according to CEO Ben Kovler.
New Jersey’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission has allowed the sale of adult-use cannabis by 13 medicinal dispensaries. Ascend Wellness Holdings Inc, Columbia Care Inc, Acreage Holdings Inc, Green Thumb Industries Inc, Curaleaf Holdings Inc, Terrascend Corp, and Verano Holdings Corp are among the owners of the businesses.
The sites may be found all around the state, in addition to the New York City and Philadelphia regions. New York is set to start selling recreational marijuana in 2023, while the state of Pennsylvania only allows medicinal marijuana.
New Jersey voters passed a referendum authorizing marijuana for recreational use a year and a half ago, following 17 other states and the District of Columbia.
Analysts and industry leaders predict that the market will approach $2 billion in a few years. In the fiscal year 2023, Governor Phil Murphy’s spending plan predicts $121 million in marijuana income, largely from taxes and fees.
In New Jersey, there are presently 130,000 medicinal marijuana users, with an estimated 800,000 potential recreational users, according to the commission.
The legislation mandates that a significant portion of the state’s cannabis earnings be invested in areas that have been affected by the “war on drugs.”
According to the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, the number of black persons arrested for marijuana charges in 2018 was more than three times as often as higher than white people, despite identical consumption rates.
Cannabis industry executives believe that a successful rollout in New Jersey would encourage other states on the east coast to follow suit, citing surveys that indicate a large number of Americans favor marijuana legalization.
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