6 ways you can be in the cannabis business biz in NJ (Opinion)

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know New Jersey is on the threshold of an exciting new industry: legal marijuana. On Dec. 17, 2020, both the Assembly and Senate approved the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act. The law will provide government regulation of both recreational and medical marijuana businesses.

And so many people have been wondering how they could make money in a new endeavor involving legal weed. I wish I had a dollar for everyone I know who wants in. But there are so many questions and not enough answers.

A good start is understanding exactly what the legal weed legalization is going to allow people to do and what they can expect when it comes to actual commerce in the marijuana trade. It has to do with six different licenses that will be offered under the terms of the new law, which is still waiting for Governor Murphy’s signature till it goes into effect.

The law will provide for six licenses to be sold — each for a separate aspect of the new cannabis Industry. Here’s the most basic description of what they are:

• Growing
• Packing
• Wholesaling
• Transporting
• Selling to the public
• Delivering to the public.

That’s a lot of ways for people (and the government!) to make money!

An article on re-nj.com lays out all six licenses and their descriptions perfectly. Below is a little more detail from the proposed law:

Class 1 Cannabis Cultivator license — This is for "any licensed person or entity that grows, cultivates, or produces cannabis in this State, and sells, and may transport, this cannabis to other cannabis cultivators, or usable cannabis to cannabis manufacturers, cannabis wholesalers, or cannabis retailers, but not to consumers."

Class 2 Cannabis Manufacturer license — "'Cannabis manufacturer' means any licensed person or entity that processes cannabis items in this State by purchasing or otherwise obtaining usable cannabis, manufacturing, preparing, and packaging cannabis items, and selling, and optionally transporting, these items to other cannabis manufacturers, cannabis wholesalers, or cannabis retailers, but not to consumers.

Class 3 Cannabis Wholesaler license — "'Cannabis wholesaler' means any licensed person or entity that purchases or otherwise obtains, stores, sells or otherwise transfers, and may transport, cannabis items for the purpose of resale or other transfer to either another cannabis wholesaler or to a cannabis retailer, but not to consumers."

Class 4 Cannabis Distributor license — “'Cannabis distributor' means any licensed person or entity that transports cannabis in bulk intrastate from one licensed cannabis cultivator to another licensed cannabis cultivator, or transports1 cannabis items in bulk intrastate from any one class of licensed cannabis establishment to another class of licensed cannabis establishment, and may engage in the temporary storage of cannabis or cannabis items as necessary to carry out transportation activities."

Class 5 Cannabis Retailer license — “'Cannabis retailer' means any licensed person or entity that purchases or otherwise obtains 1usable1 cannabis from cannabis cultivators and cannabis items from cannabis manufacturers or cannabis wholesalers, and sells these to consumers from a retail store, and may use a cannabis delivery service or a certified cannabis handler for the off-premises delivery of cannabis items and related supplies to consumers. A cannabis retailer shall also accept consumer purchases to be fulfilled from its retail store that are presented by a cannabis delivery service which will be delivered by the cannabis delivery service to that consumer."

Class 6 Cannabis Delivery license — "'Cannabis delivery service' means any licensed person or entity that provides courier services for 1consumer purchases of cannabis items and related supplies fulfilled by a cannabis retailer in order to make deliveries of the cannabis items and related supplies to that consumer, and which services include the ability of a consumer to purchase the cannabis items directly through the cannabis delivery service, which after presenting the purchase order to the cannabis retailer for fulfillment, is delivered to that consumer."

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco. Any opinions expressed are Judi's own.