Bill > S3960

Introduced Session

This bill makes various changes to the "Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act" (CREAMMA) and the "Jake Honig Compassionate Use Medical Cannabis Act" (Medical Cannabis Act). Municipal Medical Cannabis Limitations Under the bill, a municipality may not prohibit the operation of a retailer of cannabis items by any medical cannabis dispensary issued a permit pursuant to the Medical Cannabis Act that has been opened and operating without any violation, or notice thereof, for a period of not less than 180 days. Under current law, a municipality may impose separate local licensing or endorsement requirements as a part of its restrictions on the number of operations of cannabis licensees, or their location, manner, or times of operation. Under the bill, a restriction on the number or location of cannabis licensees operating in a municipality does not apply to any medicinal cannabis retailer operating as of the effective date of the CREAMMA. The bill also prohibits the Cannabis Regulatory Commission (commission) from requiring municipal review, consent, or approval as a condition of issuing a Class 5 Retailer License to a medical cannabis dispensary issued a permit pursuant to the Medical Cannabis Act, which is also applying for approval or renewal of a Class 5 Retailer License pursuant to CREAMMA that is proposed to be co-located on the premises of an existing medical cannabis dispensary in a municipality that permits the retail sale of medical cannabis, but not the retail sale of adult-use cannabis items. Any prior approval authorizing the medical cannabis dispensary to lawfully operate on the premises shall be deemed to authorize the Class 5 Cannabis Retailer use at the same location for all purposes. Commission Application Determinations Under current law and commission regulations, the commission has 30 days to make a determination on a completed conditional license, and 90 days to make a determination on a completed annual license application. Before the expiration of these periods, the commission may make a determination that it requires more time to adequately review the application. Under the bill, if the commission determines that it requires more time to adequately review an application, the commission is required to, not more than 30 days after a determination for more time to review, make a determination as to whether the application is approved or denied, effectively establishing a cap on the total amount of time the commission has to make a decision on an application. Commission Application Review Under the bill, the commission will no longer establish a point scale and rank applicants based on that score. The bill also removes the requirement that certain documents be submitted for commission review, and establishes that the commission may require such documents be included for review. The bill establishes that the commission is no longer required to verify that the following information be contained in an application: (1) a business plan and management operation profile for the proposed cannabis establishment, distributor, or delivery service; or (2) the plan by which the applicant intends to obtain appropriate liability insurance coverage for the cannabis establishment, distributor, or delivery service. The bill removes the requirement that the commission give greater weight to certain applicants when evaluating the experience of an applicant. The bill also removes the requirement that the commission give special consideration to any applicant that has entered into an agreement with an institute of higher education to create an integrated curriculum. Further, the bill permits the commission to give an applicant a certain amount of time, determined by the commission, to comply with additional conditions, outside of those which were required for licensure, rather than limiting that period to 45 days. Municipal Ordinance Portal The bill requires the commission to create and maintain an online portal. The online portal is required to maintain a centralized municipal portal that includes any ordinance or regulation related to the medical or adult-use cannabis markets that a municipality has adopted in this State. Any municipality that passes a regulation, ordinance, or any change to a regulation or ordinance is required to submit the regulation or ordinance to the commission for purposes of maintaining this information. The centralized municipal portal will be accessible to the public. Family Applicants or License Holder This bill prohibits the commission from prohibiting a family member, other than a spouse, of a license applicant or license holder from also becoming a license applicant or license holder. This is intended to invalidate N.J.A.C.17:30-6.8, which prohibits family members of a license applicant or license holder from also becoming such. Alternative Treatment Centers (ATC) The bill permits ATCs to redesignate products as either medical or adult-use cannabis at any point in its supply chain, provided that the ATC holds the appropriate license at the point of redesignation.

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Nick Scutari (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee (on 12/12/2024)

Official Document