New Jersey Medical Cannabis Market
Posted on 14 August, 2023 by Micheal Alexander
New Jersey legalized medical cannabis in 2010. Since New Jersey’s medical cannabis program launched, only patients with a limited number of conditions were able to enroll. Those conditions were mostly chronic and debilitating, including epilepsy, glaucoma, ALS, severe vomiting from AIDS or cancer treatment, multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, and other terminal illnesses.
Registered patients are legally allowed to purchase and possess up to 3 ounces per month and can be authorized for medical cannabis for up to 12 months based on a physician’s clinical judgment; there are no purchase limits for terminal patients. Currently, cannabis edible forms are only available for qualifying medical patients under the age of 18. There is the requirement that all products contain no more than 10% THC is considered overly restrictive and onerous. Cannabis Delivery Business
The New Jersey Department of Health has reduced the registration fee from $200 to $100, added senior citizens and military veterans to the list of those that are eligible for the reduced fee of $20 and has added seven “debilitating medical conditions” including PTSD, by statutory enactment; and six new conditions (anxiety, chronic pain of visceral origin, chronic pain related to musculoskeletal disorders, migraines, Tourette syndrome, and Opioid Use Disorder), by the State Health Commissioner’s March 22, 2018, petition decision, and January 23, 2019 revision. Additionally, the rule created a separate permitting system for cultivation, manufacturing and dispensing marijuana for medical purposes.
The expansion has added more than 20,000 medical cannabis patients in 2019, bringing the total to over 63,000 and the program increased to over 100,000 patients, 1,259 doctors and 3,930 caregivers in 2020 and grew to 122,337 patients in 2021.
In 2019, state regulators requested applications for 24 new licenses: 4 vertically integrated, 5 stand-alone cultivation facilities and 15 dispensaries. In 2021, the Cannabis Regulatory Commission doubled the proposed number of cultivation sites. In October 2021, New Jersey licensed 14 new cannabis businesses (10 cultivation and 4 vertically integrated licenses). In December 2021, the commission approved 30 additional dispensary licenses. Vertically integrated cannabis business
As of December 2022, 30 dispensaries (incl. 9 alternative treatment centers) across New Jersey served around 114,000 medicinal registered cannabis patients. Effective July 1, 2022, the sales tax rate levied on the sale of medical cannabis has been reduced to 0%.
New Jersey cannabis market in retail part rose roughly 70% and 50% in 2016 and 2017 to hit an estimated $30 million in 2018 (up from a revised estimate of $20 million in 2017) and over 200% to reach almost $100 million in 2019. Medical sales totaled about $150 million in 2020 and $180 million in 2021. 2022 brought in about $226 million in medical cannabis sales.