{"id":66919,"date":"2023-07-19T07:12:58","date_gmt":"2023-07-19T15:12:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2023\/07\/19\/new-jersey-marijuana-regulators-scale-back-rule-to-prioritize-people-with-convictions-in-licensing-for-a-year\/"},"modified":"2023-07-19T19:46:44","modified_gmt":"2023-07-20T03:46:44","slug":"new-jersey-marijuana-regulators-scale-back-rule-to-prioritize-people-with-convictions-in-licensing-for-a-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2023\/07\/19\/new-jersey-marijuana-regulators-scale-back-rule-to-prioritize-people-with-convictions-in-licensing-for-a-year\/","title":{"rendered":"New Jersey Marijuana Regulators Scale Back Rule To Prioritize People With Convictions In Licensing For A Year"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

New Jersey\u2019s cannabis legalization law is \u201cabout righting the wrongs of the failed drug war, period, hard stop.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

By Sophie Nieto-Mu\u00f1oz, New Jersey Monitor<\/strong><\/p>\n

A recent move intended to increase the number of cannabis businesses run by people with prior convictions for marijuana offenses or who live in economically disadvantaged parts of the state was rejected by New Jersey\u2019s cannabis regulators Tuesday in a stunning about-face.<\/p>\n

The Cannabis Regulatory Commission\u00a0voted in June to give those applicants\u2014called social equity applicants\u2014the first shot<\/a> at wholesale, distributor and delivery services licenses for one year starting in September. But Tuesday, the commission voted to limit the time period after critics said the June decision would hurt cannabis entrepreneurs who were harmed by the drug war but do not fit the definition of social equity applicant.<\/p>\n

Leo Bridgewater, a longtime cannabis advocate, said the June decision wouldn\u2019t have helped New Jersey\u2019s cannabis industry.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be sacrificing the needs of the few over the needs of the many at this juncture,\u201d he said in a phone interview after Tuesday\u2019s meeting.<\/span><\/p>\n

Under the new rules approved Tuesday, starting September 27, social equity applicants seeking <\/span>wholesale, distributor and delivery licenses get priority for three months. Then for the next three months, diversely owned cannabis businesses\u2014those owned by women, minorities or disabled veterans\u2014get priority.<\/span><\/p>\n

Neither the June decision nor Tuesday\u2019s apply to applicants for cultivation, manufacturing or retail licenses.<\/span><\/p>\n

The motion to change the June decision passed 3-1, with Commissioner Charles Barker voting no. Barker, often the lone \u2018no\u2019 vote, defended the initial one-year timeline as a move that would have helped people most harmed by marijuana prohibition. He emphasized that New Jersey\u2019s marijuana legalization law is \u201cabout righting the wrongs of the failed drug war, period, hard stop.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Chairwoman Dianne Houenou argued Black and brown business owners would have been shut out if the commission retained the one-year priority period.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think it is well-intentioned, though not quite hitting the mark, to exclude diversely owned businesses from being able to submit applications to the CRC in a timely manner that will allow them to be able to get up and running,\u201d Houenou said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tiyahnn Bryant, founder of Roll Up Life, who is seeking approval for delivery applications, said he\u2019s starting his business in his hometown of East Orange. Half of the city qualifies within the social equity criteria, and his business is one building away from the border carved out as an economically disadvantaged area, Bryant said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re understanding that we need to help people in the social equity lane,\u201d he said, \u201cbut do we have to do that in spite of companies like mine, where the only thing that doesn\u2019t qualify me or make me a social equity company is I don\u2019t live next door, or I wasn\u2019t arrested?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Delgado said stories like Bryant\u2019s show that the cannabis marketplace should not be limited. Barker responded that people speaking at the meetings don\u2019t reflect the entire industry. Barker also disputed Houenou\u2019s comments, saying the one-year time period approved in June hadn\u2019t been put into practice, so it\u2019s unfair to say it wouldn\u2019t have worked.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bridgewater said overturning Barker\u2019s resolution was a smart move that will keep the industry moving. He said the idea would have been great when serious players, including social equity applicants, were getting interested, but doing it more than one year after the recreational cannabis market launched is \u201cpoor timing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Bridgewater also said the squabble over prioritizing one group of cannabis applicants over another does not address the market\u2019s major problem: dispensaries not opening because of burdensome requirements and municipal hurdles. In order to open cannabis businesses, owners must also receive approval from the town they plan to open in, as well as the state.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf we take a deeper dive into the why, it\u2019s no secret that out of 565 municipalities in New Jersey, about 400 of them said no to marijuana,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s a big part of the overall problem.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This story was first published by New Jersey Monitor.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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Top Maryland Marijuana Regulator Explains How The State So Quickly Implemented Sales After Voters Approved Legalization<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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The post New Jersey Marijuana Regulators Scale Back Rule To Prioritize People With Convictions In Licensing For A Year<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\nRead More: New Jersey Marijuana Regulators Scale Back Rule To Prioritize People With Convictions In Licensing For A Year<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Jersey\u2019s cannabis legalization law is \u201cabout righting the wrongs of the failed drug war, period, hard stop.\u201d By Sophie Nieto-Mu\u00f1oz, New Jersey Monitor A recent move intended to increase the number of cannabis businesses run by people with prior convictions for marijuana offenses or who live in economically disadvantagedContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66919"}],"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\/457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66919"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66919\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66920,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66919\/revisions\/66920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}