Chance for NJ Medical Marijuana License Draws Hundreds of Applicants

The competition is already fierce to win one of the six new medicinal marijuana licenses New Jersey will be issuing later this year.

More than 800 people — a mix of lawyers, consultants, and entrepreneurs from as far as Colorado and as close as Pennsylvania — attended a State Health Department meeting in Trenton to learn the ground rules for the application process.

The meeting was mandatory for anyone who intends to apply for a medical marijuana license. Jeff Brown, the assistant commissioner of the medicinal marijuana program at the Health Department, said the state does plan to issue more requests for marijuana businesses in the future. But there's a strong desire among possible purveyors to snag one of the six soon-to-be-available licenses, because many applicants see them as a back door into the legal recreational market — should that become legal in New Jersey.

Medical marijuana has been legal in the state since the passage of the Compassionate Care Act in 2010, but adult recreational use is not. The State Legislature is expected to begin considering several bills to legalize marijuana for recreational use this month.

The state currently has six dispensaries to serve more than 28,000 people who are enrolled in the program for illnesses like post-traumatic stress disorder, terminal cancer and multiple sclerosis. The new licenses will double the number, and allow for easier access to the drug for patients — a goal of Gov. Phil Murphy's administration.

There was much excitement in Trenton among applicants who spilled out of the Trenton War Memorial, where the meeting was held. A medical marijuana permit is so coveted, one applicant at Thursday's meeting referred to it as a "golden ticket." And, there was a range of experience levels — from newcomers to the industry, to those, like Colorado businesswoman Wanda James, who became the first African American owner of a marijuana business after Colorado legalized weed in 2012.

She said she has already assembled a New Jersey-based team to operate a branch of her business, Simply Pure. James emphasized her advantages: experience and the diversity of her team in an industry largely dominated by white men.

"Experience, understanding the ups and downs, understanding how all of this works, I think is what's going to be key in having a successful business in New Jersey," James said.

Murphy has said he wants to see diversity among New Jersey's industry.

Brown said a selection committee will want to see that applicants can meet the medical marijuana demand in the state. Evaluations of applications begin Sept. 1, he said. After a 60-day review, the state plans to notify applicants by Nov. 1.

Dana Rone, a former Newark councilwoman, said she plans to open a cannabis business called, "New Jersey Flower Garden," if she lands a permit. Like James, she said her non-traditional background as a gay, black woman was a plus.

“Clearly we have been impacted in New Jersey, and around the world ... with the failed war on drugs and when marijuana is legalized we should be allowed to participate," she said. "I am a minority, I am a woman, I am a lesbian."

William Bogot, a Chicago-based attorney with the firm Fox Rothschild, was in Trenton representing an applicant. He said those with a history of having working in highly-regulated industries — like the alcohol industry — have an advantage.

“It's not their first business. They’re not just learning," Bogot said. "They can get up and running in a short time period. They really want to see and feel comfortable that you’re not going to get the license and say, 'Oh, I guess we have to go find money now,' or 'Oh, I guess we have to go looking to find qualified people to grow it.' "