A new proposal would remove a hard limit on the number of marijuana shops allowed in the state should legislators choose to legalize cannabis.
While New Jersey has long been expected to be one of the more conservative states when it comes to the number of marijuana dispensaries, the new measure would allow regulators to adjust the number as needed to meet demand. This change is the latest in a monthslong back and forth among lawmakers.
Weedmaps, basically the Yelp of marijuana shops, says New Jersey needs at least several hundred dispensaries to meet demand. Others, including the state senator who has led the way on legal cannabis, have sought to limit the number of dispensaries, saying he doesn’t want a marijuana shop on every corner.
Removing the cap on dispensaries is just one of the changes proposed by Assemblyman Jamel Holley, D-Union, to a recreational marijuana bill introduced last month by state Sen. Nicholas Scutari, also D-Union.
Scutari’s bill was met with pushback from several groups, which said it didn’t do enough to address many of the larger social justice issues that New Jersey faces. So for the past few weeks, Holley and other lawmakers have been writing amendments to that bill, which were reported exclusively in NJ Cannabis Insider on Thursday.
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