(This is a developing story and will be updated.)
New Jersey lawmakers on Thursday approved legislation to regulate and launch an adult-use marijuana market next year that’s expected to become the largest on the East Coast with sales approaching $1 billion in a few years.
Passage of the implementation bill by the Assembly and the Senate comes six weeks after residents voted to legalize adult use at the ballot box.
New Jersey’s decision to launch a recreational marijuana market is expected to ignite a domino effect across the Northeast and Middle Atlantic, especially putting pressure on neighboring New York and Pennsylvania to legalize adult use.
New Jersey’s bill, which now goes to Gov. Phil Murphy for his expected signature, would fast-track existing medical marijuana operators and impose cultivation caps in the first two years, with licensing designed to increase according to market demand.
Jeff Smith can be reached at [email protected]
