Trade Group Blasts New Jersey Regulators For Stifling Industry
September 5, 2023The New Jersey Cannabis Trade Association (NJCTA) took aim at the state’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) in a blistering letter, alleging overall poor management and blaming the agency for the market’s shortfalls since sales began last year.
As the NJCTA letter notes, there were 37 recreational cannabis dispensaries open in New Jersey as of July 26, up from 11 when the market launched in April 2022, but with an estimated base of 700,000 of-age consumers, that leaves one dispensary per 21,000 patrons. Sales have plateaued and tax revenue has been anemic, with $20.1 million collected through the first nine months. New Mexico, with a population one-quarter the size, generated $36.6 million in tax revenue in the same period.
The NJCTA places the blame squarely at the feet of the CRC. “The root cause of the weaknesses in New Jersey’s cannabis industry is straightforward: The Cannabis Regulatory Commission’s anemic pace of licensing operators has suffocated the legal market,” the Association writes. “Out of the more than 2,100 applications submitted to the CRC since 2021, approximately 717 are still pending, leaving aspiring cannabis entrepreneurs unable to open their operations. Consequently, potential tax revenue that would greatly benefit the state is lost as it continues to flow through the illicit market.
“The combination of slow licensing mixed with weak civil regulatory enforcement of the illicit market has created a doom loop for New Jersey’s cannabis industry,” the letter continues. “A recent poll revealed that about 30% of cannabis users bought weed from non-licensed dealers. Of that group, about 18% of people said that high prices at legal dispensaries pushed them to purchase cannabis on the street. However, the vast majority stated that the lack of legal dispensaries near them led them to non-licensed dealers.”
The letter concludes with two broad suggestions that would ameliorate the problems facing cannabis business leaders in the Garden State: accelerate the licensing process and begin a crackdown on the illicit market.
Subscribe to Shanken News Daily’s Email Newsletter, delivered to your inbox each morning. You will also receive the Cannabis edition as part of your subscription.Tagged : cannabis
