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New Jersey Senate President Nick Scutari (D) says that delays in rolling out the state\u2019s adult-use marijuana market are unacceptable, and he will be forming a special legislative committee to explore the issue through oversight hearings.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s been a mix of feelings about the timeline for legalization implementation among stakeholders. As regulators have worked to approve the first round of licenses, some advocates have pushed for expediency while others feel it\u2019s important not to rush the process to ensure that the industry that emerges is equitable and not dominated by large corporations.<\/p>\n
But it has been nearly a year and a half since voters approved a legalization referendum<\/a> at the ballot and the legislature passed implementation legislation. New Jersey regulators were expected to approve a first round of adult-use retail licenses<\/a> for certain existing medical cannabis dispensaries last week, but they decided against it.<\/p>\n While Gov. Phil Murphy (D) has urged patience and insisted that the adult-use market will open within \u201cweeks,\u201d Scutari said<\/a> in a press release on Tuesday that the \u201cdelays are totally unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n The Senate president, who championed the recreational legalization implementation bill enacted last year, said he intends to form a bipartisan special committee and will be asking the Assembly to participate as well to make it a joint panel that will investigate the delayed rollout.<\/p>\n These delays are totally unacceptable. We need to get the legal marijuana market up and running in New Jersey. This has become a failure to follow through on the public mandate and to meet the expectations for new businesses and consumers. https:\/\/t.co\/roZKoeHWOE<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Senate President Nick Scutari (@SenPresScutari) March 29, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n \u201cWe need to get the legal marijuana market up and running in New Jersey,\u201d he said. \u201cThis has become a failure to follow through on the public mandate and to meet the expectations for new businesses and consumers.\u201d<\/p>\n The oversight hearings will include \u201can accounting\u201d regulators and \u201cinput from those operating cannabis businesses or waiting to get licensed, as well as others involved in the legal marijuana market,\u201d the release from Scutari\u2019s office says, adding that the committee\u2019s membership and scheduling for hearings \u201cwill be worked out soon.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D) said the body \u201cshares the concerns of the Senate about the lack of momentum in getting New Jersey\u2019s adult-use market established and off the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that if regulators do not make \u201csignificant progress\u201d and achieve \u201cclarity\u201d on the issue at their next meeting on April 11, the Assembly will consider joining the Senate in holding oversight hearings.<\/p>\n Inbox: @SpeakerCoughlin<\/a> \u201chas not ruled out\u201d joining the state senate in having legislative hearings regarding recreational cannabis rollout, as per spox. pic.twitter.com\/CgI2qKA1rq<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Daniel Han (@danieljhan_) March 29, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) declined to approve existing dispensaries to start serving the adult-use market last week, but it did give conditional approval to 68 marijuana cultivators and manufacturers.<\/p>\n Murphy responded by asking people to remain patient as regulators sort through the complexities of creating the new market with an eye toward equity.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not going to be months,\u201d Murphy said during a recent interview with News 12 New Jersey. \u201cThe way this is supposed to work\u2014and it is working this way\u2014[is] if a medical dispensary can prove it has more than enough supply for its medical customers, it\u2019s at least eligible. And assuming it meets all the other requirements, including some municipal boxes to check, et cetera, it should be deemed eligible.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI believe it will still be a matter of weeks. It is not going to be months. I can\u2019t tell you exactly a date. The commission is doing a great job,\u201d the governor\u00a0said. \u201cI know everyone thinks it\u2019s taken a long time. I understand that. In this case, as long as the now 127,000 medical patients across that whole system have their supplies satisfied, we should be able to go ahead\u2014and we will go ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 The governor stressed that \u201cequity is a huge part of our proposition here, and I know that may take longer than folks otherwise would like.\u201d<\/p>\n CRC Commissioner Charles Barker said during last week\u2019s meeting that those from disadvantaged communities, particularly people who have been disproportionately harmed under the policy of prohibition, need to \u201ccome hungry and ready\u2026to step up and take your rightful seat at the table,\u201d The Asbury Park Press reported.<\/p>\n Commissioner Krista Nash said that the body \u201crecognizes the desire of the public to get the personal use market up and running, it is a shared responsibility to do so,\u201d and their hope is that \u201cthe guidance the commission provides here today will move the process along so we can get these [dispensaries] open [for adult use] in a responsible manner that meets the needs of the patients and the personal use market.\u201d<\/p>\n Some industry officials, meanwhile, are OK with the delay.<\/p>\n The New Jersey CannaBusiness Association President Edmund DeVeaux, for example,\u00a0said\u00a0in a statement that the group is pleased to see that regulators are \u201cnot rushing into the process and taking deliberate steps.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDoing things correctly was more important than doing things quickly,\u201d he said. \u201cNew Jersey is on its way, and we look forward to the next round of progress.\u201d<\/p>\n CRC Chair Dianna Houenou recently said that if the state were to open standalone adult-use shops right now, the industry would be\u00a0\u201cdominated\u201d by large, multi-state operators<\/a>.<\/p>\n Murphy, for his part, said that there are \u201clots of reasons\u201d for the delayed rollout. That includes \u201cequity and making sure we have an industry that looks like our state that is not just in words, but it is an action\u2014a step tangibly toward undoing the damage from the war on drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s that\u2019s easier said than done,\u201d he said. \u201cWe want to get more right than any other state.\u201d<\/p>\n U.S. Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ) recently criticized New Jersey regulators about the diversity issue, saying he\u2019s\u00a0\u201coutraged\u201d over the lack of minority representation<\/a>\u00a0in the industry.<\/p>\n The governor said last week that it would be weeks and not months before adult-use sales start, but he also said the same thing last month<\/a>. At the time, he also stated that he would be \u201copen-minded\u201d to permitting adults to grow their own marijuana for personal use down the line, but that it would take action by the legislature. The governor similarly talked about\u00a0being open to home grow late last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n He\u2019s also recently touted the fact that the courts have\u00a0expunged more than 362,000 marijuana cases<\/a>\u00a0since July 1, when a decriminalization law took effect that mandated the relief for people who have been caught up in prohibition enforcement.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, CRC also held a series of public meetings where it\u00a0received feedback on how best to allocate marijuana tax revenue<\/a>\u00a0after the recreational market opens.<\/p>\n New Marijuana Prohibition Super PAC Targets Pro-Legalization GOP Congresswoman, Among Other Races<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of WeedPornDaily<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Top New Jersey Senator Plans Hearings On \u2018Totally Unacceptable\u2019 Marijuana Licensing Delays As Governor Urges Patience<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
New Jersey Senate President Nick Scutari (D) says that delays in rolling out the state\u2019s adult-use marijuana market are unacceptable, and he will be forming a special legislative committee to explore the issue through oversight hearings. There\u2019s been a mix of feelings about the timeline for legalization implementation among stakeholders.Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":53909,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53908"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53908"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53908\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53910,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53908\/revisions\/53910"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Top New Jersey Senator Plans Hearings On \u2018Totally Unacceptable\u2019 Marijuana Licensing Delays As Governor Urges Patience<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"