New Jersey cannabis business compliance guide

‍Market Type

In New Jersey, cannabis is regulated by the Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC). Medical and adult-use cannabis are allowed. New Jersey also allows visiting out-of-state medical patients to purchase medical cannabis through a nonrenewable, six-month medical card. In order to obtain an out-of-state patient medical card, patients must  consult with a registered New Jersey health care practitioner who will enroll them in NJ’s patient registry allowing them to register for a card with a current copy of their registration in the home state’s program.

Metrc and Inventory 

New Jersey uses Metrc as their seed-to-sale state traceability system for adult-use cannabis. However, medical-only licensees are not required to use Metrc. Medical sales continue to be reported to NJ’s patient portal.

Separate medical and adult-use inventory

Currently in New Jersey, medical and adult-use cannabis inventory are separated and must be tracked separately. Transfers between medical and adult-use inventory are allowed. Retailers who sell both adult use and medical cannabis must certify that it has “sufficient quantities of medical cannabis or medical cannabis products available to meet the reasonably anticipated needs of registered qualifying patients...” N.J.S.A. 24:6I-46a(3)(a)(iv) 

Unique stamp or tag requirement

Prior to migrating to Metrc, NJ employed unique identifiers (NJ UIDs) to track cannabis. The CRC has confirmed that in lieu of using the NJ UID, operators may use Metrc package tag numbers in order to satisfy the “unique stamp or tag” requirement as set forth in N.J.A.C 17:30-16.4

Inventory Audit requirement

The CRC requires inventory audits at least monthly and a comprehensive annual inventory. Operators must document the record of an inventory conducted and record must include:

• The date of the inventory
• A summary of the inventory findings, and
• Name, signature, and title of the persons who conducted the inventory audit are requirements of the record.

Purchase Limits

Adult-use

• 28.35 grams (one ounce) of usable cannabis;
• Four grams of solid cannabis concentrate or four mL of liquid cannabis concentrate (oil);
• Vaporized formulation containing four mL of liquid cannabis concentrate (oil);
• Multiple ingestible cannabis-infused products containing an aggregate total of 1,000 mg of THC; OR
• 28.35 grams (one ounce), or the equivalent, of some combination of usable cannabis and cannabis products.

Medical

• Three [3] ounces/84 grams for every 30-day period

Equivalencies

The following is equivalent to 1 ounce of usable cannabis:

• 28.35 grams (1 ounce) of dried flower, or
• 4 grams of solid cannabis concentrates or resin, or the equivalent of 4 grams of concentrate in liquid form (solution in milliliters), or
• 4 grams of vaporized formulations (oils), or 
• 1000 mg of multiple ingestible cannabis-infused  products (10 100 mg packages) like gummies

NOTE: Equivalency is based on total weight of the product sold. For products containing both THC and CBD, equivalency is based on the total weight of the concentrate. For example, a product containing 400 mg of CBD and 100 mg of THC has a total weight of 500 mg or 0.5 grams.

Taxes

Adult Use:

Sales Tax

• Retail sales of recreational cannabis are subject to Sales Tax of 6.625%.

Local Cannabis Transfer Tax

• At the discretion of municipality but cannot exceed 2% of receipts from each sale At the discretion of the municipality, the tax may be imposed on any or all of the following receipts from the sale of:

• retail cannabis sales
• cannabis by a cannabis cultivator to another cannabis cultivator
• cannabis items from one cannabis establishment to another cannabis establishment; and

Each municipality will set its own rate or rates, but cannot exceed 2% of the receipts from each sale by a cannabis cultivator, cannabis manufacturer, or cannabis retailer, or 1% of the receipts from each sale by a cannabis wholesaler.

Medical:

No sales tax on medical cannabis

Delivery

Retailers and cannabis delivery ervices may transport cannabis to patients and consumers. 

Delivery Operations

• Delivery orders must be placed in advance by a consumer, either directly with a cannabis retailer, or with a cannabis delivery service. 
• A cannabis delivery service and cannabis retailer shall only deliver to a NJ residence (including a temporary residence.
• Cannabis retailer delivery or cannabis delivery service personnel may make multiple deliveries in one trip as long as all orders were placed in advance.

Miscellaneous:

• Delivery fees are allowed, but may not exceed 10% of the pre tax cost of the order.
• ID must be checked in person upon delivery

Things to Note

Privacy/Data Retention and Log Requirement

Per N.J.A.C. 17:30-14.3(b) and (c), retailers are required to keep a log that the examination of ID and confirmation of legal age occurred. Additionally, while retailers may not keep an actual copy of any customer’s photographic ID, they may collect information typically acquired in an alcohol transaction, including the customer’s date of birth.

State Resources

The CRC compiles their proposed and final statutes and regulations here