NEW JERSEY Standard Licensing

Class 1 – Cannabis Cultivator:

Any licensed person or entity that grows, cultivates, or produces cannabis in this State, and sells, and may transport, this cannabis to other cannabis cultivators, or usable cannabis to cannabis manufacturers, cannabis wholesalers, or cannabis retailers, but not to consumers. This person or entity shall hold a Class 1 Cannabis Cultivator license. There will be no more than 37 Cultivation Licenses awarded for the initial 24 months (Feb 2023)

• Tier I = Mature cannabis plant grow canopy area greater than 2,500 sq ft but no more than 10,000 sq ft

• Tier II = Mature cannabis plant grow canopy area greater than 10,000 sq ft but no more than 25,000 sq ft

• Tier III = Mature cannabis plant grow canopy area greater than 25,000 sq ft but no more than 50,000 sq ft

• Tier IV = Mature cannabis plant grow canopy area greater than 50,000 sq ft but no more than 75,000 sq ft

• Tier V = Mature cannabis plant grow canopy area greater than 75,000 sq ft but no more than 100,000 sq ft

• Tier VI = Mature cannabis plant grow canopy area greater than 100,000 sq ft but no more than 150,000 sq ft

 

Class 2 – Cannabis Manufacturer:

Any licensed person or entity that processes cannabis items in this State by purchasing or otherwise obtaining usable cannabis, manufacturing, preparing, and packaging cannabis items, and selling, and optionally transporting, these items to other cannabis manufacturers, cannabis wholesalers, or cannabis retailers, but not to consumers. This person or entity shall hold a Class 2 Cannabis Manufacturer license.

 

Class 3 – Cannabis Wholesaler: Any licensed person or entity that purchases or otherwise obtains, stores, sells or otherwise transfers, and may transport, cannabis items for the purpose of resale or other transfer to either to another cannabis wholesaler or to a cannabis retailer, but not to consumers. This person or entity shall hold a Class 3 Cannabis Wholesaler license.

 

Class 4 – Cannabis Distributor: Any licensed person or entity that transports cannabis in bulk intrastate from one licensed cannabis cultivator to another licensed cannabis cultivator, or transports cannabis items in bulk intrastate from any one class of licensed cannabis establishment to another class of licensed cannabis establishment, and may engage in the temporary storage of cannabis or cannabis items as necessary to carry out transportation activities. This person or entity shall hold a Class 4 Cannabis Distributor license.

Class 5 – Cannabis Retailer: Any licensed person or entity that purchases or otherwise obtains usable cannabis from cannabis cultivators and cannabis items from cannabis manufacturers or cannabis wholesalers, and sells these to consumers from a retail store, and may use a cannabis delivery service or a certified cannabis handler for the off-premises delivery of cannabis items and related supplies to consumers. A cannabis retailer shall also accept consumer purchases to be fulfilled from its retail store that are presented by a cannabis delivery service which will be delivered by the cannabis delivery service to that consumer. This person or entity shall hold a Class 5 Cannabis Retailer license.

 

Class 6 – Cannabis Delivery Service: Any licensed person or entity that provides courier services for consumer purchases of cannabis items and related supplies fulfilled by a cannabis retailer in order to make deliveries of the cannabis items and related supplies to that consumer, and which services include the ability of a consumer to purchase the cannabis items directly through the cannabis delivery service, which after presenting the purchase order to the cannabis retailer for fulfillment, is delivered to that consumer. This person or entity shall hold a Class 6 Cannabis Delivery license.

                                                            

                                                    PLEASE NOTE:

• Local municipalities have the authority to establish ordinances to regulate cannabis businesses within their jurisdiction, which may include limitations on types and number of licenses allowed, permitting/approval/support process.
• For a 24 month period following February 22, 2021 (until Feb 2023):

o A license holder and its owners and principals that holds a Cultivation and/or Manufacturing license may not also hold a Retail license and vice versa; AND

o A license holder and its owners and principals may hold one cannabis retailer license.

 

Diverse Business: At least 51% of the ownership interest and control is held by persons who are minorities (African-American, Hispanic, Asian-American, American Indian or Alaskan native), women, or disabled veterans and certified as such by the New Jersey Department of the Treasury in one or more of the listed categories.

 

Impact Zone Business: means an applicant that meets one of the following 3 criteria:

• Operates a cannabis business that is located within an impact zone; -OR-
• More than 50% of the ownership interest is held by a current resident of an impact zone who have resided there for 3 or more consecutive years; -OR-
• Presents a plan to ensure that:

-at least 25% of its employees reside in any of the State’s identified impact zones;  AND

 -among the employees who reside in impact zones, at least 25% reside in the impact zone nearest to the proposed business location

 

Microbusinesses:

• Have a smaller footprint than a standard cannabis business (Class 1 – 6), with respect to its business operations, capacity, and quantity of product
• For example, you can apply for a Cultivation Microbusiness License or a Retailer Microbusiness License, etc.

 

• Limited to 10 employees and 2,500 square feet:
• A microbusiness cannabis cultivator shall:
• Have a total cannabis grow area that does not exceed 2,500 square feet, measured on a horizontal plane, and 24 feet, measured vertically above that plane; and
• Possess a total of no more than 1,000 cannabis plants each month.
• A microbusiness cannabis manufacturer, shall acquire no more than 1,000 pounds of usable cannabis each month;
• A microbusiness cannabis retailer, shall acquire for retail sale no more than 1,000 pounds of usable cannabis, or the equivalent amount in any form of cannabis product, or any combination thereof, each month.
• If successful, a microbusiness will be allowed to apply to expand their business in accordance with consumer demand after being operational for a minimum of 1 year.
• There shall not be any cap, limit, or other numerical restriction on the number of microbusinesses authorized to operate a cannabis business
• Shall meet ALL the following requirements regarding owners, passive investors, principals, and employees:
• 100% of the ownership interest shall be held by current New Jersey resident(s) who have resided in the State for at least the past 2 consecutive years, at the time of application;
• At least 51% of the total number of persons included in the microbusiness, including all owners, principals, and employees, shall be residents of either the municipality in which the microbusiness is or will be located, or of a municipality directly bordering such municipality; and
• The microbusiness license applicant or license holder shall employ no more than 10 employees at one time.