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As 2025 begins, we at Heady NJ can look back and then predict what’s ahead in the New Jersey cannabis or legal weed market for home grow, prices, lounges, and other issues.
The NJ Home Grow Coalition will continue to fight to legalize growing cannabis plants, which remains a felony. The coalition made so much progress and grew so much last year that it won Reformer of the Year at the recent Budtender’s Ball.
The fight has been difficult since so many who wanted a legal cannabis industry in Jersey did not support home grow as vigorously. As the industry has expanded, many dispensary owners and industry leaders have joined the coalition.
This has helped to secure more sponsors for the bill which gets it closer to being legalized.
Notably, many prominent cannabis leaders support at least medical home grow as the number of patients has fallen and will likely continue to do so.
It remains an issue trying to convince NJ Senate President Nick Scutari (D-Union), Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex) and other prominent legislators.
The NJ cannabis lounge application portal opened last week on January 2nd. However, it is only open to social equity candidates currently
The application portal will be open to all types of companies by July 2nd, according to the NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJ-CRC).
Ideally, one could open by the end of the year. But that is highly unlikely.
A lot of dispensaries have anticipated having a lounge and have built out space. About 200 out of 560 New Jersey towns allow any kind of cannabis company. But less than 25 will likely allow lounges. Only the most pro-cannabis places like the big cities and larger suburban towns are known by Heady NJ to be open to them.
It’s unclear what a cannabis lounge could be like. It is certain they can’t sell water, food, or liquor currently. That makes it hard for those that want to be like bar-and-grills.
One lounge could be like a nightclub. Others could be like a quiet coffee shop, especially during the day. Also some might allow bands and performers for shows.
The moderates and conservatives think stoners are going to be rowdy like drunks since they know so little about weed. So they are likely to oppose them.
Lounges remain controversial in the older state-legal cannabis markets as well.
By the end of 2025, there should be even more than the nearly 200 cannabis dispensaries open currently. There should also be more types of cannabis or legal weed flower, edibles, and concentrates available by December 2025.
The NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJ-CRC) was happy to announce before Christmas that the market had hit $1 billion in cannabis sales. So, the market growing more is realistic.
Heady NJ has heard from many businesses that hope to open by Summer 2025.
As more legal weed grown by different cultivators becomes available, the price of New Jersey cannabis should continue to drop.
According to Cannabis Business Times, New Jersey cannabis prices remain some of the highest in the state-legal cannabis markets. They say it’s more than $300 an ounce in New Jersey versus $257 in Illinois and under $100 in California. In most states, it’s between $200 and $300.
Prices have been gradually going down in New Jersey after years of struggle to open licensed cultivators.
Opening a licensed cultivation facility in New Jersey takes millions of dollars. In contrast, dispensary owners who do their own lobbying and can handle construction told Heady NJ they could open with less than $1 million.
Only very gradually have some of the 2019/2021 medical cannabis license growers opened. But a few of those companies will never open.
Since last spring, 2024, exclusively adult-use New Jersey cannabis growers have been available in dispensaries. While the pace was very slow initially, it has increased since last summer.
The catch is that small businesses in other legal cannabis states think their prices are too cheap! They feel they have been flooded with weed, and the low prices are hurting them.
So, while other states have complained of floods for years, New Jersey legal weed consumers continue to complain about a drought.
Many legal cannabis dispensary owners have told Heady NJ they want more locations and have plans in the works. There are different ways to go about this.
A good number of well-funded adult-use dispensaries have already begun competing with the large MSOs that were allowed to have three medical marijuana dispensaries and convert them to include adult-use cannabis sales.
More than one adult-use cannabis dispensary might be owned by the same person or group already. A few do not present their multiple dispensaries as a chain.
So, the sad truth is that it was inevitable that some dispensaries were going to close.
Royal M dispensary in Plainfield has already closed. It gives us no pleasure to announce this.
But they won’t be the last.
There are rumors that a lot of New Jersey cannabis dispensaries are struggling to stay open. Most expected more customers. However, the close distance between some dispensaries is a significant issue for some. Competition from smoke shops selling intoxicating hemp is another source of fury for some.
Others still blame the underground legacy cannabis market.
Federal marijuana prohibition makes it hard to get a loan and results in high taxes for licensed cannabis companies.
The federal government is likely to take up a lot of time in the coming weeks. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) trial on Rescheduling Marijuana to Schedule III will go on until at least March. It’s unclear what will happen there. The DEA has too much to control for it to be a fair fight. They will not let many pro-cannabis advocates and attorneys participate.
It remains a theater show farce more than an idealistic unfolding of “justice.”
Most cannabis advocates prefer descheduling, which would allow the state markets to flourish.
It’s also unclear what former President Donald Trump (R) will do when he becomes President of the United States again this month. But we will do something.
Trump has endorsed Schedule III, and he seems to have many around him who might like the large MSO version of legal weed.
However, he also seems to have many conservative,e traditional values supporters who would hate any progress on marijuana reform. They might have more influence.
Something is also likely to happen with Hemp in New Jersey in 2025.
Jersey tried to ban intoxicating hemp last year. But a judge said it was federally legal. The intoxicating hemp law that was signed into law gave the NJ-CRC the authority to regulate hemp which they previously did not have.
They have already used that authority to announce a ban against shady artificial hemp and sales to those under the age of 21.
The legislature also said it wanted to pass a new law after the judge announced his decision.
There actually is a chance that medical magic mushrooms or psilocybin could be legal by the end of the year in Jersey. It was notable that the Senate Budget Committee took up the bill in October after progress was made in June.
However, they want to create a version where it costs a couple thousand dollars to trip legally with a licensed therapist in 4 years. They also don’t want to decriminalize it. Big Pharma and its followers seem eager to dominate the space.
However, the movement to legalize shrooms has already increased the activities and sales of underground legacy operators as they become more acceptable and desired.
“}]] As 2025 begins, we at Heady NJ can predict what’s ahead in the New Jersey cannabis market for home grow, prices, lounges, and other issues. Read More
