CRC – Cannabis Industry

New Jersey Governor Murphy announced yesterday that current NJCRC Executive Director Jeff Brown is returning to the New Jersey Department of Health to take on the role of Deputy Commissioner for Healthcare Systems, effective May 20, 2024.

Current NJCRC Deputy Executive Director and former General Counsel Christopher Riggs will assume the role of acting Executive Director upon Brown’s departure.

Brown has served as the Executive Director since the formation of the NJCRC in April 2021, and before that as Assistant Commissioner for the Division of Medicinal Marijuana at the New Jersey Department of Health since 2018.

Despite the inevitable friction and challenges associated with this nascent field and reporting to a board of very active, full time commissioners, Brown has proven a steady hand at the tiller both at NJDOH and at NJCRC. Throughout his tenure in both agencies, Brown has been instrumental in the development and implementation of New Jersey’s medical and recreational laws and rules. He led the reinvention of New Jersey’s moribund-by-design medical marijuana program, and then stood up the NJCRC as a new agency to regulate both adult-use and medicinal cannabis. Under Brown’s leadership, New Jersey’s cannabis market has grown each year with 2024 cannabis sales expected to top $1 billion.

Though Brown will be a hard act to follow, Acting Executive Director Riggs is expected to be another steady hand at the tiller leading regulation of the market. Well-equipped to assume the role of Executive Director, Riggs has worked for the NJCRC since its inception. He initially served as the NJCRC’s first chief counsel and led the drafting and promulgation of the laws and rules that govern the industry. Before that, he was a Deputy Attorney General in the Office of the Attorney General and was assistant chief of the section representing the Department of Health and Human Services.

Well regarded among attorneys and industry veterans alike, it is expected Riggs and the NJCRC will now focus on streamlining and rationalizing regulatory processes to improve oversight and reduce bureaucratic delay and red tape. Riggs has also indicated he intends to prioritize clinical registrant applications and social equity certification process at the NJCRC.

We wish both well in their new roles.

Earlier today, Thursday, December 17, 2020, the NJ Legislature passed an historic bill legalizing and taxing recreational marijuana for adults use.

The 240-page Assembly Bill 21 passed by a 49-24 vote with 6 abstentions in the Assembly and a 23-17 vote in the state Senate.

The final bill creates a 5-member Cannabis Regulatory Commission to oversee the new market, as well as the existing medical marijuana market.

Licenses for cultivators are capped at 37 for the first 24 months following the bill’s enactment.

Cannabis sales will be taxed at 7% – which includes the 6.625% sales tax on retail sales, and a tax on cultivators, which adds up to a 7% rate in total.

70% of sales tax revenue and all the money from a tax on cultivators are dedicated toward legal aid, health care education and other social services for lower-income, minority communities.

The remaining 30% in sales tax revenue will go to fund the Cannabis Regulatory Committee and to help fund local police departments for the training of “Drug Recognition Experts”.

Per NJBIZ, employers must have a “reasonable suspicion” that their workers are high on the job in order to conduct a drug test. And the test must be accompanied by an assessment from a Drug Recognition Expert to ensure the person’s behaviors match someone who’s high.

That would allow workers to use marijuana while off the clock, just as with alcohol.

Separately, another measure, Senate Bill 2535, was passed which ends arrests for possession of up to 6 ounces of cannabis, while Senate Bill 3256 will also lower penalties for possession of psilocybin (i.e., mushrooms).

Duane Morris attorneys in offices throughout the U.S. have extensive experience with the wide array of issues attendant to legal cannabis business activities, including real estate development and leasing; licensing for cultivation, processing and dispensing; litigation; banking and finance; raising and deploying capital; protecting intellectual property; public company representation and SEC filings; land use and zoning; healthcare and research; and taxation.

For more information on this blog post, do not hesitate to contact Brad A. Molotsky or Paul Josephson or any of the other Duane Morris attorneys you regularly engage with.

Tag: CRC

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