New Jersey: Regulators Approve Provisional Licenses for 30 New Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

After months of delay, state regulators on Tuesday provided provisional licenses to 30 applicants seeking to operate medical cannabis facilities.

Currently, only 23 medical cannabis facilities are operational in the state. That low total has led high prices and low supplies for the state’s estimated 120,000 registered medical cannabis patients. Under the state’s medical marijuana law, patients are not permitted to home-cultivate cannabis.

Those issued provisional licensure will still need pass a series of background checks as well as site approval prior to opening their businesses.

State lawmakers earlier this year approved legislation legalizing the adult-use marijuana market. Under the law, medical cannabis facilities that have been operational for at least one year can apply for licensure to serve both patients and adult-use customers. However, state regulators have not yet begun the process of reviewing applications for those wishing to operate adult-use facilities. That process is not anticipated to begin until March 2022 — several months later than regulators had initially intended.

Adult-use retail sales are also anticipated to begin next year in the neighboring states of Connecticut and New York.