Enforcing uniform standards for legal weed similar to alcohol regulations, using municipal land-use law, and creating oversight authority are among the solutions offered by New Jersey’s cannabis industry insiders to address corruption and politicking in the local cannabis licensing process.into alleged wrongdoing by local towns and their officials.
The ABC handbook also delineates how to monitor conflicts of interest that may arise if a “licensing authority,” such as a town official, has a business interest with the license application. However, without explicit legislation giving the state Cannabis Regulatory Commission permission to interpret the law in such a manner, the agency could be subject to a robust legal challenge, said ACLU Policy Counsel Joe Johnson in an interview with NJ Cannabis Insider.There were also calls to create oversight authority to adjudicate concerns on what an ethical process looks like.
Municipalities in other states have made incubators and local programs to help disadvantaged applicants., said through a spokesperson last year, “Cannabis establishments of considerable size shall contribute to a business development fund assisting small businesses owners with obtaining a microbusiness license.”
“New Jerseyans overwhelmingly voted to legalize cannabis. Yet after two years, more than 300 municipalities opted out of having cannabis businesses within their borders,” he said.