One official expressed concerns that further increasing the fees could “decimate some businesses.”
By Sophie Nieto-Muñoz, New Jersey Monitor
New Jersey cannabis regulators on Thursday approved raising a cannabis fee intended to pay for social equity programs and announced a long-awaited application process for consumption lounges.
The five-member Cannabis Regulatory Commission approved raising the social equity fee to $2.50 per ounce, up from $1.24, starting on January 1. The panel had been expected to approve the new fee at its October 30 meeting but delayed the vote until Thursday.
The revenue collected from the fee, paid for by cannabis cultivators, goes into a fund dedicated to social equity programs and reinvesting in communities harmed by marijuana criminalization. A portion of the fee also goes to programs to divert youth from cannabis use.
Progressive advocates have pushed to raise the fee to the legal maximum of $30. Some commissioners expressed reservations over increasing the fee that much, with Commissioner Krista Nash suggesting it could “decimate some businesses, …