New Jersey regulators approved the first round of new licenses for recreational weed companies that weren't already growing and selling medicinal cannabis.
The list of 18 includes two retailers in Gloucester Township.
Jeff Brown, the executive director of the state's Cannabis Regulatory Commission, called the approvals momentous and said the small number was "the tip of the iceberg."
Commission officials offered no timeline for when the businesses — eight cultivators, three manufacturers, and seven retailers — would open or where they would be located. In some cases, municipal documents provided addresses.
Commission Chairwoman Dianna Houenou cautioned that the businesses still had to go through multiple steps, including a review financial sources and a final inspection, before they will be allowed to open.
"It's my hope that all of these business get up and running as soon as possible because we need these businesses to be operational to help drive down" prices, Houenou said.
The two approved retailers in Gloucester Township are Blackwood Wellness LLC, at 816 N. Black Horse Pike, and Royal Highness Dispensary LLC, at 543 Berlin-Cross Keys Rd., according to resolutions passed by Gloucester Township Council in March.
Two cultivators, Hamilton Farms LLC and Statewide Property Holdings NJ LLC, planning to operate in Millville, according city resolutions, were approved. Other approved cultivators in South Jersey are Atlantic Cultivators in Atlantic City and Brighterside Canopy LLC in Pleasantville.
It's not clear where most of the other businesses intend to locate. The commission said it would not provide that information until it gives the businesses final approval to open.
In another move, the commission approved the expansion of Curaleaf's Bordentown medical cannabis dispensary into recreational cannabis, though Houenou and another member of the commission expressed dissatisfaction with Curaleaf's treatment of workers, without providing specifics. On Tuesday, a former employee at a South Philadelphia Curaleaf filed a lawsuit alleging that the retailer violated Philadelphia's Fair Work Week laws.
Separately on Thursday, the commission and the New Jersey Department of State announced the launch of a Cannabis Training Academy next year to provide technical assistance to entrepreneurs establishing cannabis businesses in New Jersey.
Training modules, which will be free to participants, will include guidance to legacy growers and sellers who want to get into the nascent legal business.
