Recreational cannabis sales in New Jersey for adults will finally begin tomorrow Thursday April 21st.
For this first day New Jersey approved 13 locations for “recreational adult-use” sales, and South Jersey was approved for 6.
Our core “42Freeway” area has come out as winners in this initial round as in a 12 mile straight run down Route 42 we have 3 of the dispensaries offering recreational marijuana sales on Thursday.
Times given are Thursday’s time they start selling recreational cannabis. But please read on for more.
- Curaleaf in Bellmawr (Website, Corp Facebook) 9:30am
- The Cannabist in Deptford (Website, Facebook) 5:00pm
- Botanist in Williamstown (Website, Facebook) 10:00am
Vineland, Egg Harbor, Atlantic City and Edgewater Park also have approved locations.
Considering that the Route 42 area is really a small part of the State, much less dense population than North Jersey, and that there really isn’t one facility in the Cherry Hill, Marlton, Mt Laurel, Haddons area…
… well it’s surprising our area has gotten so much attention from the Cannabis industry! Or maybe our town leaders were just more eager to approve!
In fact, the Bellmawr and Deptford locations are less than 3 miles away, and we’ve been told by representatives from High-Life that Brooklawn approved them to open at a later date in the Brooklawn Shopping Center! (State approvals may still be pending.)
Just the FAQs please!
Here’s a quick rundown of the key items to know, mostly from the New Jersey cannabis website, but also from some other sources.
Can I grow my own cannabis in NJ:
No!
Can I be arrested for carrying recreational cannabis and cannabis products?
This section updated 4/21/2022 9:30am
There is some confusion on this as I feel the State is not clear.
Well it is clear that you must be 21 years old to legally posses cannabis. The amount allowed is confusing.
The original marijuana possession laws do set the legal possession amount at 6 ounces.
But the NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission on September 21st defined “Personal Cannabis Rules” and it clearly says 1 ounce.
I’ll try to find out.
Where can I buy?
At any of the New Jersey licensed dispensaries. New Jersey maintains a list here.
Cash? Credit?
Hearing that the sales are all cash. Not confirmed (added 4/21/2022)
Can anyone purchase!?
Anyone 21 years or older with a Photo ID that has a birthdate.
How much can I purchase?
Dispensaries are allowed to sell one ounce of marijuana at a time. Considering the variety of products available, the State provides the following categories of purchases for a day
- 1 ounce of dried flower, or
- 5 grams of concentrates, resins, or oils, or
- 1000mg of ingestible products (10 100mg packages) like gummies
A purchase of a combination of products may be 1/2 ounce of dried flower plus 2 1/2 grams of concentrate, or 5 packages of gummies and 1/2 ounce of dried flower.
Will the dispensaries keep my records?
Dispensary personnel will need to see a government-issued identification card to ensure purchasers are 21 years or older. They are not allowed to make copies of your ID or retain record of your purchase beyond what is required for the completion of that single financial transaction
Where can I smoke cannabis?
You can smoke in private spaces. Landlords are allowed to prohibit its use on their property.
Can someone from out of State purchase in New Jersey? Can they take it back to another State?
A non-New Jersey resident can purchase cannabis in New Jersey, but it is still illegal to transport across statelines.
Can I drive while high?
Driving while high is illegal. Impaired driving laws apply.
How much does it cost? What can I buy?
With several years of medical marijuana experience in the State and country, there is a surprising variety of products to choose from, with different categories within each product type… .so it’s tough to say what it will cost.
That being said, it seems that starting out the variety of recreational cannabis will be small.
I am not certain if the medical prices are different than the recreational. But I’ll let you know tomorrow. I do believe the recreational adult-use product will have significantly more product available to it. Medical use is just that… as a medicine, whereas recreational can support gummies, cereals and other innovative products.
What are the taxes? Where does it go?
New Jersey is adding a 6.625% sales tax to cannabis purchases, and has said they won’t add additional.
70% of that new tax revenue goes to areas disproportionately affected my marijuana related arrests.
Additionally, towns where the dispensary is located can add their own 2% sales tax to the adult-use purchases
The 42Freeway Area Recreational Weed Run-down!
So an interesting thing to me is that sales start tomorrow.. and honestly the 3 dispensaries aren’t really putting a lot of information out there as of our Wednesday 4:20pm research.
Only one of the three have a post on their Facebook pages giving clear plans for Thursday, or have even acknowledged that it’s even happening!
But it seems they are working to update things now, as updates are coming in.
Curaleaf Bellmawr
The Curaleaf facility in Bellmawr is the “big guys” in the area cannabis industry as they are also a grow facility, as well as a medical/retail location.
Curaleaf was also the first to be approved and opened in South Jersey, and became famous for their long lines to purchase medical cannabis which require Bellmawr police to frequently keeping tabs on the traffic and lines (as they were this afternoon)
They are located on Creek Rd with easy access to 42, 295 and the Turnpike, as well as the bridges from Philadelphia. Because of this location and access, I would expect Curaleaf Bellmawr to continue to be popular.
A new parking lot was also added further down Coolidge Ave, which provides a great view of the Missing Moves construction project.
Note: It is illegal to transport New Jersey cannabis over State lines, say back into Pennsylvania. But we all know it’s going to happen!
The Curaleaf Website does not mention recreational adult use sales, and in fact the location page lists them as medical.
We’ve been told by someone who was there today that for first day recreational they will only be selling “flowers”
We dont see updated hours for adult-use, but the Philadelphia Inquirer has better sources on this one, and at least for tomorrow:
Curaleaf Bellmawr
- Thursday Curaleaf opens at 9:30am for adult-use recreational sales.
Curaleaf in Bellmawr (Website, Facebook)
640 Creek Rd
Bellmawr, New Jersey 08031
Cannabist in Deptford
Cannabist opened in Deptford just a few months ago, in that angled shopping center across from AMC Movies. In most recent years the space was used for seasonal Halloween stores.
They are located less than 3 miles from Bellmawr’s Curaleaf so this will provide two good options for area residents.
Cannabist has just now at time of this publishing updated their website to have an adult-use menu, which for day one is only a few products. We are told they will be adding more products over time. (Cannabist Menu)
And for at least the first week the plan is to only offer adult-use sales at the end of the day… the last two hours.
For the medical use patients, this is a win as they will have a nice relaxing purchasing experience during the day.
Cannabist Deptford was kind enough to provide us the following adult-use schedule for the first week:
- Thursday, 4/21 5pm-7pm
- Friday, 4/22 5pm-7pm
- Saturday, 4/23 5pm-7pm
- Sunday, 4/24 closed
- Monday, 4/25 4pm-6pm
- Tuesday, 4/26 4pm-6pm
- Wednesday, 4/27 4pm-6pm
Cannabist Deptford
1692 Clements Bridge Rd
Deptford, NJ 08096
The Botanist in Williamstown NJ
The Botanist on the Black Horse Pike in Williamstown opened a year ago.
They sit at the corner of Berlin Cross-Keys road, making them also central to Gloucester Township and Washington Township.
The Botanist gets kudos for last week actually acknowledging on Facebook that they were approved for recreational sales!
Then on their website they provide a short FAQ related to recreational adult-use weed sales and usage.
But from there the don’t give clear information of their game-plan for recreational adult-use sales starting tomorrow.
Mark from 42Freeway actually reached out to the folks at the Botanist several days ago in hopes of being able to go in and learn about the process… and take photos. While I did get a response, it seemingly was not approved at their Corporate.
So with that we are back to our old friend at the Philadelphia Inquirer who tell us
- Thursday the Botanist opens at 10:00am for adult-use recreational sales.
Botanist Williamstown
2090 N Black Horse Pike
Williamstown, NJ 08094