The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) adopted its first set of rules for the state’s adult-use cannabis industry last month and had 30 days to begin accepting and processing business license applications—a deadline that came and went Sept. 18 without the agency taking action.
The CRC approved a new licensing platform to help regulators process applications from potential cultivators, manufacturers and retailers at a Sept. 14 meeting, according to an NJ.com report, but the statutory deadline for the agency to actually launch the application process passed Saturday without the agency releasing the applications to entrepreneurs.
A CRC source told NJ.com that although officials did not meet the deadline—and will not open the application process in the coming days—the commission plans to publish a notice in the New Jersey Register with the start date for application filing and the necessary materials that an applicant needs to submit to comply with a process outlined in the CRC’s adult-use regulations.
RELATED: First Set of Adult-Use Cannabis Rules Approved in New Jersey
New Jersey’s adult-use cannabis law requires the CRC to set a date within 180 days of adopting its final regulations for the first sales to launch, and according to NJ.com, the delay in the start of the state’s business licensing process exacerbates doubts already in place that newly-licensed adult-use operators could open their doors—let alone get plants in the ground—by early next year as planned.
