Rules For Marijuana Licenses As Of Today
With New Jersey releasing the current state of the bill for adult use cannabis on December 14th what can we expect in the coming year?
For starters the bill has developed 6 classes of licenses. This includes cultivator, manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor, retailer, and delivery.
12 medical marijuana operators will be able to grab a recreational adult use license.
This will follow the same class rules that i just listed. Along with some medical marijuana businesses being able to get a few recreational licenses there will be 24 new medical marijuana licenses distributed for new businesses.
During the first 24 months of the release of licenses there will only be 37 licenses distributed. There is one exception however.
Micro Business licenses, businesses with 10 or fewer employees and 2500 square feet of canopy, will be able to join.
This was implemented so small businesses would not be shut out of this expansive market. The CRC or cannabis regulation commission will be tasked with the acceptance of new licenses and will dictate how many future licenses will be distributed.
They will make their decision based on the need for more businesses to allow the supply to meet the demand. The CRC also dictates the rubric for applicants.
Some of these will be determined by your environment, your plans for security, and operational plans. There will also be a priority towards women, minorities, and disabled veterans. This was included when the voters passed the referendum.
Some other priorities included would be for businesses from “impacts zone” areas. During the pandemic unemployment has swept across the entire united states.
To help combat that New Jersey lawmakers want to give some priority to the areas that have been impacted the most by the pandemic. The CRC promises 25% of the licenses will go to businesses that have at least 25% of their employees from these areas.
One last criteria for a priority candidate would be someone who has been a resident of New Jersey for at least 5 years and has a 5% investment into an entity. Owners of licenses are required to have labor peace agreements.
Microbusinesses however will not be required to follow this rule. The bill also makes it much more difficult for municipalities to hinder adult use marijuana operations. However, the municipalities are also in charge of how many licenses are allowed in their area.
All precious prohibitions on adult use marijuana would be null and void. Every municipality would have 180 days from the bill’s enactment to prohibit adult use marijuana.
This does not include a ban on the delivery to consumers. To start there will be a 7% tax on adult use marijuana. The CRC can also implement a “social equity excise fee” to bring money into communities.
The money would go towards programs that intend to offset the effect that anti-marijuana laws have had on these communities. 70% of the money generated from this fee would go towards these programs in colored-communities.
One final note included in the bill is that every municipality has the ability to implement an additional tax up to 2%. As previously said this is the information as of December 14th and there is still some chance for changes to be made.