
New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney has appointed social worker Krista Nash as the first official member of the state’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission, a panel charged with regulating the state’s cannabis industry, according to an NJ.com report.
The commission still needs four additional members before it can become operational, the news outlet reported; Gov. Phil Murphy must appoint three members and State Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin must appoint one under New Jersey’s expanded medical cannabis law.
The Jake Honig Compassionate Use Act, signed into law last year, expanded New Jersey’s medical cannabis program and established the commission to oversee it, NJ.com reported. (The New Jersey Department of Health has been handling the program.)
Once fully staffed, the commission will be responsible for drafting regulations for the state’s medical cannabis industry and, potentially, a legal adult-use cannabis market, if New Jersey voters approve an adult-use legalization ballot measure this November.