NewsBreak Original

On 4/2/2022, The Bud Bus was parked in front of Tiff’s Grill and Ale House in Morris Plains, NJ giving away “free weed” with purchases of “other” items. Recreational cannabis has yet to find its legal way to New Jerseyans, but a popup, food truck-like service is skirting around the law to provide recreational weed to customers.

New cannabis legislation addresses previous zoning concerns.(Joseph Thomas Photography/iStock) In the election of 2020, New Jersey voted in favor of officially changing the state Constitution to legalize recreational marijuana. Question 1 on the ballot allowed New Jersey’s decision-makers to vote for or against the cultivation, processing, usage, retail, and possession of cannabis for persons 21 years of age and older. The referendum took effect on the 1st of January 2021 and ever since, New Jersey’s lawmakers have been hard at work to solidify the plant’s legal status.

New Jersey gets ready for a hazy summer.(Zummolo/iStock) The Cannabis Regulatory Commission “was first established to oversee the state's medical-marijuana program,” explains TaxAdmin.org. They “would be responsible for regulating the cultivation, processing, and sale of recreational marijuana.” On the Cannabis Regulatory Commission’s (CRC) website, it still reads, “Regulated recreational cannabis is currently not available. After licenses are awarded by the NJCRC and cannabis businesses are operating, adult consumers 21 years of age or older will be able to purchase recreational cannabis items from licensed recreational cannabis businesses.”

Find out how the United States decides whether or not to legalise marijuana.(24K-Production/iStock) Marijuana is a plant that has slipped in and out of the pharmaceutical world and the underground drug world. It was once “widely used throughout many ancient cultures for its potent therapeutic powers.” Only over the last nearly sixty years have scientists been able to rediscover the medicinal potential of the Cannabis plant. Studies have shown indisputable signs of Marijuana being able to “entirely alleviate,” and in some cases “accelerate the healing process” of very complex, beleaguering diseases.

Attend in-person or via Zoom, register to speak, or submit a written response at one of the three meetings held by the NJ-CRC this March to give your recommendation on how cannabis tax dollars can best be used for "social equity" projects.

New Jersey’s recreational cannabis market will miss the February 22nd deadline to open stores across the state. So when will NJ finally see recreational cannabis sales?. This month (January 2022), the state of New Jersey accepted some 300 applications to operate recreational cannabis dispensaries. Applications opened in December of 2021, and by the end of the first day, there were 635 accounts registered on the government site.