That could come soon, he said.
“I think we can begin to see adult-use purchases by mid- to late fall,” DeVeaux said.
The state has targeted February 2022 for the start of retail sales, according to staff with Acreage Holdings, a multi-state group that owns The Botanist in Egg Harbor Township and on the Atlantic City Boardwalk.
Brian Sickora, Acreage Holdings’ general manager for New Jersey, indicates they are ramping up production for the recreational market while continuing to supply patients.
“Currently, we are significantly expanding our cultivation facilities in order to meet the additional demand and continue to supply exceptional, consistent products for all consumers in New Jersey,” Sickora stated in an email.
Attempts to contact the owners of Be. were unsuccessful. There are three Be. medical cannabis locations in New York state, owned by Citiva, a subsidy of the national cannabis company iAnthus.
In Cumberland County, Columbia Care has a dispensary on Delsea Drive in Vineland and recently opened another in Deptford. The company has dispensaries in 13 states and the District of Columbia.
The rules approved in August by the Cannabis Regulatory Commission aim to ensure small operators a path into a potentially lucrative business dominated by large-scale companies. That includes low applications fees and special licenses for microbusinesses, with a stated goal of making sure minorities, women and veterans have a chance to own businesses in the new market and that communities hit the hardest by the war on drugs reap benefits from legal cannabis.
