News & Updates from the NJ Cannabis Commission: First Annual Business Licenses Approved & More

The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJ-CRC) approved the first 18 annual licenses for cannabis businesses last week – eight for direct to annual licenses, and ten to convert existing conditional licenses to annual.

On that Thursday, October 27th meeting last week, 297 more conditional licenses were also approved, bringing the total number of conditional licenses awarded since March to 801.

“This is a special milestone for the Commission and for New Jersey’s new legalized industry. With the awarding of eight cultivation licenses and three manufacturing licenses we are setting good groundwork for New Jersey’s cannabis market,” said Commission Chairwoman Dianna Houenou. “We hope to see these facilities up and running as soon as possible to be local Garden State suppliers to the seven retailers who also got their annuals today and the others that will be licensed in the future.”

Other actions taken by the Commission in last Thursday’s meeting included:

• Extending the length of time certain conditional license awardees have to apply for conversion of an annual license, and…
• Increasing the Social Equity Excise Fee cultivators will pay for 2023 to $1.52 per ounce (from $1.10 per ounce).

Update on Medical Cannabis Businesses:

• New medical-only cultivators: Hillview, and Garden State
• Medical-only dispensaries: Sweet Spot (Voorhees), Justice Grown (Ewing), MPX (Atlantic City), and Breakwater (Roselle Park).

Update on Recreational Businesses:

New Jersey Recreational Cannabis Applications. From the NJ-CRC

• NJ-CRC received 1360 applications, all of which have begun the review process, however, only 63 applicants have moved forward to the final review.

Update on Prices:

New Jersey Medicinal Cannabis Price Per Ounce. From the NJ-CRC

Prices are still high, about 200-250% of what one may find on the street, and average over $400 an ounce. Meanwhile, prices have been rising, but less than the rate of inflation.

New Jersey Recreational Cannabis Price Per Ounce. From the NJ-CRC

Additionally, after the launch of recreational dispensaries, medical dispensaries began offering fewer discounts. On average, medical patients receiving discounted cannabis now pay $30 more than before recreational dispensaries opened.

NJ Medical Dispensaries Price Per Gram Over Time. From the NJ-CRC

However, medical cannabis menus are consistently more robust than recreational menus, and prices for medicinal cannabis are on average lower than or equal to that of recreational cannabis.

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