There was no shortage of interest for participating in New Jersey’s forthcoming adult-use cannabis retail market when state regulators began accepting a second round of applications earlier this week.

The state’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) opened the dispensary license application process for Class 5 retailers at 9 a.m. March 15. By 4 p.m. that day, the commission had received 172 applications, NJ.com reported.

According to CRC’s website, Class 5 license types authorize retailers to purchase adult-use cannabis from licensed cultivators, manufacturers or wholesalers, and to sell those items to consumers in a retail store.

The license applications for Class 5 retailers will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis until indicated otherwise, according to CRC.

“Social equity businesses, diversely-owned businesses, impact zone businesses, and applications that receive bonus points will be afforded priority review, scoring, and approval,” the website states.

In addition, CRC has not established a limit on the number of cannabis business licenses available statewide. However, under current law, the number of adult-use cultivator licenses is limited to 37 until Feb. 22, 2023.

The application process for those licenses began in December, but CRC officials missed a deadline to finish reviewing the licenses by March 15, leaving established medical cannabis dispensaries, hoping to transition to the adult-use market, unsure about future supply avenues to meet an increased demand.

RELATED: New Jersey Misses Deadline to Review Cultivation Applications

With the first wave of adult-use applicants having time to familiarize themselves with the application process during the past three months, CRC Executive Director Jeff Brown said the commission saw a smoother process when it opened the portal to potential retailers on March 15.

“Since the portal opened in December, potential cannabis entrepreneurs have been establishing accounts and beginning the application process, so we did not see the flurry of new accounts being set up today as we did on Dec. 15,” he said in a statement on Tuesday. “What we saw were applicants who were already familiar with the system and ready to apply.”

The commission’s review, scoring and approval will also prioritize conditional license applications over annual license applications, as well as microbusiness applications over standard business applications in every category, according to CRC.

Currently, there is no deadline for license application submissions. In the event the commission decides to stop accepting application submissions, CRC officials will give at least a 30-day notice before the close date for any license class.

Black and female workers are represented in Nevada’s legal cannabis industry but not nearly at the same rates as white males for higher-level positions, according to a recent study.

In the state’s cannabis workforce as a whole, 52% of workers identified as white, 22% as Hispanic, Latino or of Spanish origin, and 12% as Black, according to a demographic survey completed in January 2022 by Nevada’s Cannabis Compliance Board (CCB).

In addition, 55% identified as male, 39% identified as female and the remaining 6% preferred not to respond or did not identify with either gender.

The survey was sent to 15,936 agent registration card holders—those who legally work in the state cannabis industry—as of Jan. 1, 2022, with a 42% response rate of 6,690 surveys submitted, according to CCB.

While overall race and gender demographics didn’t steer too far from the state’s broader population, the survey results showed major gaps for workers holding executive-level positions.

Among six position categories in the survey—owner/manager, board of directors, executive board member, officer, employee, consultant—the largest gender and race gaps were associated with those who identified as members of a board of directors.

Among 95 respondents in that category, 69.6% were white, 4.4% were Black, and 5.4% identified as Hispanic, Latino or of Spanish origin.

In addition, 83.7% identified as male, while 14.1% identified as female.

Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board | ccb.nv.gov

CCB did note that the response rate for industry executives in the owners, officers, and board members categories was much higher at 70% (510 surveys completed out of 724).

In comparison, the 5,531 respondents in the “employee” category were 50% white, 13.2% Black, and 23.3% Hispanic, Latino or of Spanish origin.

Among all respondents in Nevada’s cannabis workforce, 45.3% of workers who revealed their age were 25 to 34 years old. The next largest age group was 35-to-44-year-olds, who represented 19.8% of the state’s workforce.

The latter age group, however, dominated representation in the executive board member category: 35-to-44-year-olds (37%); 45-to-54-year-olds (25.9%); 65-to-74-year-olds (13%); and 55-to-64-year-olds (9.3%).

Among all respondents, 47.7% said they worked in a cannabis sales facility, 39.9% in a cultivation facility, 25.3% in a production facility, 10.9% in a support facility (consultant, delivery driver, vendor, etc.), 9% in a distributor facility and 3.4% in a testing lab. (Respondents could choose multiple choices).

As of the beginning of this year, 761 active licenses or certificates had been issued to 215 entities, including 93 dispensaries, in the state, according to CCB.