Cannabis sales in New Jersey reached $24 million during the first month of regulated sales, the New Jersey Monitor reports. Currently, 13 medical cannabis dispensaries are the only operational retailers in the state but regulators indicated five more would be coming online soon.
During a Cannabis Regulatory Commission meeting last month, 46 new conditional licenses were awarded including 22 cultivation licenses, 13 manufacturing licenses, 11 retail licenses, and four testing facilities.
Applicants for conditional licenses must prove that they earned less than $200,000 annually or $400,000 if filing jointly, a requirement aimed at attracting smaller businesses, compared with the larger multistate firms operating the already operational 13 dispensaries, according to an Associated Press report.
Jeff Brown, executive director of the Cannabis Regulatory Commission, described the first month of sales as “only a beginning,” adding that “there’s a lot of growth left in this market.”
The commission also removed the “medical only” rule for cannabis licenses it awarded in the 2019 cycle, which means that instead of operating at least one year as a medical dispensary, licensees need only to prove they have enough supply for both medical and adult-use demand.
The 13 facilities open for retail sales averaged about $5 million a week and conducted 212,000 transactions, according to the commission.
Adult-use sales in New Jersey started on April 21 and over the course of the first two days, there were nearly 25,000 transactions.
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