Deep Dive: New Jersey Gears Up for $2B Recreational Cannabis Market
Image: Sensi Seeds
New Jersey is on the cusp of their first adult-use marijuana sales, as doors open for business this Thursday, April 21.
This is an exciting development for the industry and for the state of New Jersey, but legalization will also come with the growing pains that every new cannabis market endures.
Three points of emphasis of the latest legal cannabis market opening are below.
1: New Jersey Has a Massive Opportunity
New Jersey is the 11th most populous state that sits in the heart of the East Coast population centers. It's 8.8M residents are expected to help drive $2B in projected recreational cannabis revenue by 2026.
This means the state is positioned to not only beat rival New York to the punch, it will also match, if not exceed, Massachusetts in annual adult-use sales.
Also, with New Jersey being across the Hudson river from New York City, there will be a large influx of customers from the Big Apple helping to grow the market as well.
2: Supply Will Be Tight
Like many other recreational cannabis markets, New Jersey is wrestling with questions of supply. Producers in New Jersey insist they are ready for the market, but state regulators are preparing for a bottleneck in supply.
Furthermore, New Jersey has only 11 licensed medical marijuana businesses operating 23 dispensaries, according to state data. Those dispensaries will likely be crushed with demand until more locaitons open for the populous state.
3: Support Systems are Crucial for Equity Program
New Jersey has ambitious social equity programs within its regulations, with social equityapplicants given preference in New Jersey’s application process. However, support systems are crucial for social equity license holders to fully utilize the network of grants and programs available to them. These social equity licenses holders will also need support systems to effectively pitch investors and partners to start or grow their business. Ed DeVeaux, president of the New Jersey CannaBusiness Association, has built a "Lunch and Learn" weekly educational that has been helping to build these support systems for a year. These support systems will help with licensure, but other challenges will surely emerge, including a tightening real estate market for storefronts. -- While the hurdles will be challenging, the opportunity for New Jersey is enormous. Most importantly, New Jersey citizens will finally have access to safe, legal cannabis, and the country will take another important step towards federal cannabis legalization.
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