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<v 0>Hello, and thank you for watching from the USA today. Network I'm Ryan Ross.</v>

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Today I'm joined by Mike Davis.

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Mike is our reporter for the USA today network that covers the legalization of

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marijuana in New Jersey for an update on where everything stands this summer.

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Mike, thanks so much for joining us. Uh,

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governor Murphy signed the bill to legalize marijuana in New Jersey almost

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six months ago. What's been happening since then.

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<v 1>Yeah, sure.</v>

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So I think the most important thing is that almost two years after it was like

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legally established this New Jersey cannabis regulatory commission,

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the CRC as we call it, uh, it's finally like real it exists.

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It's not just like a, an idea on a piece of paper anymore.

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And they've been meeting, you know, once or twice a month since the spring.

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And I think that's important because marijuana legalization has been an issue

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that like, since the start it's mostly figured out behind the scenes, you know,

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like I'm lucky not everyone can go to Trenton and ask the governor or the Senate

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president about, you know, why isn't homegrown included or, Hey,

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are you sure that medical marijuana patients aren't being forgotten in this,

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but at least now there is that avenue to have like an actual discussion with

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members of the public and government officials.

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But having said all that not much has actually happened in terms of like real

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life impact. You know,

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there's been a lot of meetings and a lot of talking and I'm sure there's been a

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lot of work done behind the scenes, but you know,

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if we're going to start getting this cannabis industry,

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we've heard so much about off the ground, something's got to actually happen.

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And really the last six months it's been a lot of talking and a lot of meetings,

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not a lot of actual action has taken place.

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<v 0>So I guess the big question for a lot of people here in New Jersey is what's</v>

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next in this entire book.

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<v 1>Sure. So, uh, so in August, a couple of things are all going to happen at once,</v>

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right?

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So the first is that the CRC is going to issue some rules and regulations,

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you know, which is mostly a lot of boring stuff,

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except for the fact that it would probably dictate the process for getting a

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license to sell, to grow, to process or deliver marijuana.

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But I think the really important development is dis,

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which is the CRC is going to finally issue 24 new medical marijuana

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licenses dispensary's and cultivation centers.

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This was supposed to happen all the way back in 2019,

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but it was held up in court until just a couple of months ago. Now,

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why is this important in the millions of us who may want to get high legally,

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but aren't qualified patients,

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New Jersey wants to get in the game and start selling marijuana to us as quickly

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as possible.

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And the fastest way to do that is to let your medical marijuana dispensaries

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start selling recreationally, right? So just remove the need to be a patient,

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walk in there and make a purchase.

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That's not going to happen unless a dispensary operator can prove that their

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patient's needs are already met.

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And if you ask any medical marijuana patient in the state,

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they'll tell you they haven't had their needs met for years because there's

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simply just not enough medical marijuana to go around.

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It's a supply and demand issue. And outside of raising the price,

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which is already too high,

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what's the easiest way to fix the supply and demand issue is you create more

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supply and that's where those 24 new licenses come into play.

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It's going to be huge just to have more options out there for patients to go to.

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And if patients have more options to go to and they get their products where

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they get the product quicker,

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then they can start looking at how to open things up eventually recreationally.

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<v 0>And that's another big question, Mike, finally, the last question here,</v>

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if you're not a medical marijuana patient,

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when can you realistically expect to walk into a dispensary and buy legal.

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<v 1>Weed? Yeah, you're certainly right.</v>

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That's the question everyone wants to know and there's really still no real

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answer.

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I do think those 24 licenses are going to be huge because those are businesses

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that for the last two years have had a lot of their T's dotting.

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Their I's crossed, you know, they just got to start building things and,

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you know, actually put seeds in the ground to grow a cannabis plant.

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I think the safest bet as to when you can expect this to happen is maybe

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around this time next year, you know,

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maybe July 1st, 2020 to start of a new fiscal year.

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But I do think there's a chance that if the CRC sees enough progress with those

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new medical marijuana operators,

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and if they face some pressure to maybe start bringing in the revenue that they

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promised, they could maybe expedite that and make it January 1st, 20, 22.

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So January, July, something like that,

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anything sooner than that would probably be irresponsible,

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but it wouldn't be the first time that New Jersey government officials jumped

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the gun.

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<v 0>All right. Our legal weed expert, Mike Davis,</v>

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thanks so much for giving us some more knowledge on this topic.

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<v 1>Ryan, keep following me on Twitter. I got all the news there and uh,</v>

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he found all the stories cause the next month or so it's going to be pretty

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exciting.

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<v 0>Absolutely. We will be doing that.</v>

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And thank you for watching us at home for the USA today. Network. I'm Ryan Ross,

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and we'll talk to you next time.