Cannabis Regulatory Commission to begin work shaping NJ's legal marijuana industry

The Cannabis Regulatory Commission, a five-member panel that will shape New Jersey’s legal marijuana industry, will begin work today at 2 p.m. at its first meeting.

The commission will oversee the new industry and the state’s medical marijuana program, creating regulations and distributing licenses for selling and growing marijuana, according to an article from NJ Advance Media.

“This will be the first meeting of many as we put the values of equity and safety into practice in regulating this new industry,” said Dianna Houenou, the commission’s chair, according to the article.

After the commission’s establishment in 2019, Gov. Phil Murphy (D-N.J.) named all members in late February, having signed a legal marijuana industry into law, according to the article.

Though, he replaced one of them in late March with Charles Barker, a staffer for Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), when the NAACP contested the lack of Black male members and representatives connected to racial justice groups.

The commission will decide the start date for legal marijuana sales to people age 21 and older and when facilities may begin selling medical marijuana to the public, according to an article from NJ Advance Media. It is also expected to expand the industry significantly with its ability to grant licenses, though it can also perform actions such as limiting or revoking them.

In addition, the commission will make a recommendation on how taxes from marijuana sales should be spent based on input from three public meetings in the state, according to the article. The law Murphy signed requires that 70 percent of the state marijuana sales tax and cultivation tax must go toward community programs in cities and towns negatively affected by the war on drugs.