Growing Business Opportunities in NJ’s Cannabis Industry: A Legal Perspective

“New Jersey’s Laws are being reviewed to accommodate a new cannabis industry that will create jobs, increase tax revenues and launch ancillary businesses. Law firms are actively involved in shaping this market for clients that want to invest and oper­ate companies that will face conflicting state and federal laws. Commerce Magazine asked the Cannabis Practice Leaders at New Jersey’s top law firms to game out the legal landscape facing this growing industry in the Garden State.”

According to Robert E. Schiappacasse, Co-Chair of the Sills Cummis & Gross Cannabis Industry Practice Group: “The cannabis industry will boost the state’s economy by creating an array of well-paying jobs and a growing stream of state sales and income tax revenue as businesses compete for a virtually untapped consumer market. Moreover, the product will offer pain relief to thousands and is likely to decrease prescription drug overdose and opioid abuse. On the other hand, federal law still considers marijuana an addictive drug with no medicinal value and deems its production and sale criminal. Were it not for a flexible federal enforcement policy, the industry would be at serious risk. Moreover, as a mood-altering recreational substance, like alcohol, cannabis requires complex state regulation. In sum, though growth of the industry seems inevitable, challenges abound, and each step forward must be taken carefully.”