A New Jersey appellate court this week has lifted a 2019 order preventing the state from issuing an additional 24 medical cannabis licenses.
Later this year New Jersey will be introducing an adult-use market but the court decision may allow for expansion of the medical marijuana industry way before.
“The ruling today is a step in the right direction for the state of New Jersey to not only meet the demands of existing patients but to eventually increase supply to meet the demand of the adult-use market,” New Jersey cannabis attorney Rob DiPisa of Cole Schotz said to Marijuana Business Daily.
The Appellate Division of the Superior Court in Trenton has also however rejected the appeals of seven unsuccessful MMJ dispensary applicants from the 2019 expansion round, according to the Asbury Park Press.
The state has issued only 12 vertically integrated medical marijuana licenses to date, and only 10 are operational, according to New Jersey’s website.
State regulators had requested applications for 24 new licenses: four vertically integrated, five stand-alone cultivation facilities and 15 dispensaries. A court had halted the review of those applications after a lawsuit alleged the system had technical glitches.
Regulators said they investigated the issue and determined there was no problem with the system.
