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Several South Jersey counties have emerged as prime locations in the state for marijuana business owners to set up shop.
Burlington, Atlantic and Camden counties combined have received more than one-third of annual recreational cannabis licenses since they began, according to new data released by the state’s Cannabis Control Commission. are doing. Whether you are a retailer, grower, manufacturer, or tester, you will need an annual license to legally open your business, and obtaining a license is one of the final steps before opening.
“Speak up for South Jersey,” said Wesley McWhite III, the commission’s executive director of diversity and inclusion, as he discussed the data during the commission’s public meeting last week.
Since launching adult licenses in December 2021, CRC has issued 141 annual licenses. The highest numbers are in South Jersey counties: 22 in Burlington, 18 in Atlantic and 13 in Camden. Union and Somerset counties are in the top five, with all other counties in the single digits, according to the data. In most counties, the majority of annual licenses go to cannabis retailers.
None of these counties are in the state’s top five by population, according to recent census data. And in New Jersey’s most populous county, Bergen County (952,997 residents), there are only four annual license winners. Camden County is South Jersey’s most populous county, with just over half the population of Bergen, but with three times as many licenses per year as hers.
Atlantic, Burlington and Camden are also among the top 10 companies converting temporary licenses, also known as conditional licenses, to annual licenses. The same goes for Cumberland County. This process represents a step on the path to opening and indicates that we are considering establishing additional cannabis businesses in these areas.
What influences the choice of location
Commission spokeswoman Kristin Carr said decisions about where businesses open are based on a variety of factors, including available real estate and whether local governments choose to allow cannabis businesses within their borders. He said that there is a possibility that
Just 36% of New Jersey’s 564 municipalities have opted in, Carr said. So thousands of applicants are looking to set up shop in 203 towns, about a quarter of them in South Jersey. Towns that choose to allow marijuana businesses can also enact zoning laws that limit where marijuana businesses can operate. And available real estate can further limit a company’s options.
Kerr said most applicants looking to convert their conditional licenses to annual licenses say their biggest hurdle is getting municipal approval. But co-owner Vishal Patel said that wasn’t an issue for Faysal Dispensary, which soft-opened in Runnemede, Camden County, on December 17.
“We have licenses in other cities, but this was the easiest,” said Patel, who works with the Restore brand of medical pharmacies in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He added that Faisal was one of his first forays into the recreational cannabis scene in New Jersey, and that city council members were “very supportive and very helpful” on the path to its opening. Ta.
“I looked at a lot of other places, but it wasn’t easy to get into.” [legislators’] “It’s a similar schedule to Runnemede,” he said.
During the application process, Fasal was able to secure city approval and its property at 1100 North Black Horse Pike. As a result, Patel and his co-owners were able to quickly convert their conditional license to an annual license, allowing them to open on a relatively short timeline. Now, Phasal is looking to celebrate with a grand opening on Saturday.
“Everything just happened,” he said. “We felt like this was the perfect place for us.”
Patel said South Jersey was also a top choice because of its location. He lives just across the bridge in Philadelphia, and one of his two other co-owners of Faisal is near Camden (the third lives in North Jersey). Masu). As a result, managing your business becomes a little easier.
There is an obstruction in the opening
But not all cannabis business owners have had such a smooth experience. In fact, 59 recreational-only license holders are operating, according to CRC data. That number could rise even further as health worker data currently stored in a separate system will be integrated into the agency’s new system.
McWhite said during a public meeting this month that the commission found a number of factors that would prevent non-operating stores from opening. These included local planning and zoning commission issues, administrative changes, funding, a statewide real estate shortage, rising construction costs, and anti-marijuana bias.
Still, New Jersey’s cannabis industry sold approximately $578 million worth of cannabis in the first three quarters of 2023 (fourth quarter totals have not yet been released). CRC Executive Director Jeff Brown said in a statement this week that marijuana in the state is “well on its way to becoming a billion-dollar industry.”
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