![](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/MM_Bill_Tracker_V5_blank-80.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very similar to how pharmaceutical drugs and other commodities are sold. When large corporations are given the chance, they will be greedy.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n By Sophie Nieto-Munoz, New Jersey Monitor<\/strong><\/p>\n State officials have stressed that they agree with medical marijuana patients who say the price of cannabis in New Jersey remains too expensive\u2014but the officials say their hands are tied\u00a0by the law, which gives them no control over prices set by dispensaries.<\/p>\n One lawmaker is looking across the Delaware River at what Pennsylvania has done\u2014including a provision\u00a0in its medical marijuana law allowing state cannabis officials to implement price caps if cannabis prices become \u201cunreasonable or excessive.\u201d<\/p>\n Sen. Troy Singleton (D-Burlington) wants to use Pennsylvania\u2019s statute as a model, introducing a bill in March that would allow the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission to set price caps on medical cannabis cultivators, manufacturers or dispensaries if they\u2019re selling their products at a price that is \u201cunreasonable and inconsistent\u201d with their actual costs. The commission would be allowed to cap prices for six-month intervals.<\/p>\n Singleton, who called the price of weed in New Jersey \u201cvery concerning for many people utilizing medical cannabis,\u201d said capping prices could put pressure on the market and lead to lower prices.<\/p>\n Chris Goldstein is a marijuana advocate who tracks cannabis prices in New Jersey and Pennsylvania dispensaries.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0very\u00a0similar to how pharmaceutical drugs and other commodities\u00a0are sold. When large corporations\u00a0are given\u00a0the chance, they will be greedy,\u201d he said. \u201cUnfortunately, we\u2019ve been sold the same promises for almost 13 years that prices would come down, and there was more competition and more businesses, but the same businesses have been here the whole time, and prices remain remarkably similar.\u201d<\/p>\n Critics like Goldstein have linked the high prices of legal cannabis to the corporations that control a large part of New Jersey\u2019s market. Out of about 40 cultivators, just a handful are independent, like Breakwater, Valley Wellness and Brute\u2019s Roots. The vast majority are corporations filling retailers\u2019 shelves, even in most mom-and-pop shops.<\/p>\n At\u00a0Ascend in Fort Lee,\u00a0the price of an eighth without any discounts is $65, or $50 if on sale. In Scranton, Pennsylvania, the\u00a0same amount of medical weed\u00a0costs $15.\u00a0At Curaleaf in Bordentown, an eighth costs $60, and in\u00a0Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, it\u00a0costs $32.50.<\/p>\n Edward \u201cLefty\u201d Grimes is a marijuana and disability advocate based out of Morris County. As much as he wants to support dispensaries in New Jersey, he can\u2019t afford the high price of extracted cannabis oil, known commonly as dabs. It\u2019s sold for $100 a gram in stores, but it\u2019s $20 to $30 a gram on the legacy market.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard to find a dispensary I can afford. Once in a while, I\u2019ll go in there and browse, but I feel like I\u2019m going into a luxury shop I can\u2019t afford,\u201d said Grimes.<\/p>\n The Cannabis Regulatory Commission did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n Goldstein said it\u2019s been \u201cheartbreaking\u201d to watch legal cannabis in the rest of the country become more affordable as New Jersey\u2019s prices remain high. He suggested the prices are a reason why enrollment in the medical marijuana program has declined<\/a>\u00a0since\u00a0recreational cannabis was legalized.<\/p>\n Grimes called the price-fixing legislation<\/a> \u201clow-hanging fruit\u201d for lawmakers to pass and an easy way to open access to affordable cannabis for patients.<\/p>\n \u2014 \u201cThese are sick people that need this medicine for cancer, multiple sclerosis, PTSD, and we have fallen so far off the radar as patients,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Singleton, who has sponsored several bills aimed at improving the cannabis industry, said it\u2019s tough to get any cannabis legislation passed in the Legislature. Right now, the price cap bill hasn\u2019t moved beyond conversations behind the scenes, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to keep banging on the drum, because we know so many people who are dealing with exponentially high pricing and we want to do something about it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n This story was first published by New Jersey Monitor.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n New Jersey Set A New Marijuana Sales Record Last Quarter, With Regulators Touting \u2018Historical Highs\u2019 On 4\/20 Weekend<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post New Jersey Bill Would Allow State Officials To Cap Medical Marijuana Prices<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very similar to how pharmaceutical drugs and other commodities are sold. When large corporations are given the chance, they will be greedy.\u201d By Sophie Nieto-Munoz, New Jersey Monitor State officials have stressed that they agree with medical marijuana patients who say the price of cannabis in New Jersey remainsContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":75336,"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\/75335"}],"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=75335"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75337,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75335\/revisions\/75337"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMarijuana Moment is tracking more than 1,500 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills<\/a> in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters<\/a> pledging at least $25\/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don\u2019t miss any developments.<\/strong>
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/MM_Bill_Tracker_V5_blank-79.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
<\/a>
\nLearn more about our marijuana bill tracker<\/a> and become a supporter on Patreon<\/a> to get access.
\n\u2014<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n
\n
\nRead More: New Jersey Bill Would Allow State Officials To Cap Medical Marijuana Prices<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"