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Now that a month has passed since New Jersey kicked off its long-awaited recreational cannabis sales, state regulators revealed that consumers have bought $24 million worth of cannabis, or roughly $5 million a week after a record-breaking first day when $2 million was spent.
At a Tuesday meeting, reported by the New Jersey Monitor, the Cannabis Regulatory Commission approved five additional permits for medical-only dispensaries to start selling adult-use cannabis.
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The new retail shops include Garden State Dispensaries in Woodbridge, Union and Eatontown, The Apothecarium in Lodi and Ascend Wellness in Montclair. They’re joining the other 12 dispensaries that kicked off sales last month. The 13th location did not get final approval until two weeks ago.
“It’s really only a beginning, and I think it shows that there’s a lot of growth left in this market,” said Jeff Brown, executive director of the Cannabis Regulatory Commission.
In addition, a total of 46 conditional licenses were granted during the meeting, including 22 for cultivators, 13 for manufacturers and 11 for recreational retailers.
While it is not yet clear when the newly approved stores will start selling recreational marijuana products, the commission’s next gathering is expected to be held on June 23.
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The state’s regulatory body initially gave the green light to sell adult-use cannabis to seven alternative treatment centers, which are multi-state operators, including Acreage Holdings, Inc., Ascend Wellness Holdings, Curaleaf Holdings, Inc., Green Thumb Industries Inc., Columbia Care Inc., TerrAscend Corp. and Verano Holdings Corp. in 13 locations across the state.
This article originally appeared on Benzinga and has been reposted with permission.
