{"id":7864,"date":"2017-11-17T05:00:20","date_gmt":"2017-11-17T05:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/?p=6822"},"modified":"2017-11-17T05:00:20","modified_gmt":"2017-11-17T05:00:20","slug":"how-new-jersey-could-become-a-1-billion-marijuana-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/how-new-jersey-could-become-a-1-billion-marijuana-state\/","title":{"rendered":"How New Jersey Could Become A $1 Billion Marijuana State"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/how-new-jersey-could-become-a-1-billion-marijuana-state\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p>If New Jersey follows through on plans to legalize recreational marijuana, analysts believe the Garden State could grow into a $1 billion market.<\/p>\n<p>Democrat Phil Murphy, who was elected Tuesday as New Jersey\u2019s next governor, vowed on the campaign to legalize marijuana and use a potential $300 million tax revenue to fund education programs and worker pensions.<\/p>\n<p>Legislators there are taking him at his word. State Senate President Stephen Sweeney said he wants call a vote on an a draft bill that was written in May, and get it approved within 100 days of Murphy\u2019s inauguration on January 16. Murphy did not return a request for comment from CNNMoney.<\/p>\n<p>Getting to $300 million in tax revenue could take some time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe uncertainty at this point is how long it will take from the legislation being signed to stores selling product,\u201d said Jon Whiten, spokesman for the New Jersey Policy Perspective, a think tank that\u2019s making recommendations on the recreational marijuana infrastructure. \u201cSome industry folks are suggesting at least one year to write the regulations. So, bottom line, $300 million a year in [tax] revenue isn\u2019t likely until 2020 at the earliest, but more like 2021.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Getting to $1.2 billion in annual sales by 2021 could be optimistic. New Frontier Data, a company that analyzes the cannabis industry, is more cautious in its sales forecast. It predicts sales wouldn\u2019t top $1 billion until 2023 and could fall short of reaching $1.2 billion by 2025.<\/p>\n<p>But Kate Bell, the New Jersey specialist for the Marijuana Policy Project, thinks these analysts could be underestimating the market because their data is based on a federal government poll that showed only 4 percent of New Jersey residents claim to use marijuana.<\/p>\n<p>She said that\u2019s below the national average, which is closer tor 10 percent, according to a 2015 study from the National Institutes of Health, and it doesn\u2019t take into account cannabis-using visitors from neighboring New York City and Philadelphia, who likely will inflate sales.<\/p>\n<p>Implementing tax on legal marijuana can be tricky because there is no tax on the black market.<\/p>\n<p>A study from New Jersey United for Marijuana Reform, a pro-legalization group, and the New Jersey Policy Perspective recommends a phased tax, starting with 5 percent sales tax the first year, followed by 15 percent the second year, and 25 percent in the third.<\/p>\n<p>In other states like Colorado, high sales taxes scared away many customers who continue to make illegal purchases.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLawmakers should set a tax rate that promotes public safety and keeps participation in the illegal market as low as possible after legalization,\u201d said the study, which doesn\u2019t examine other types of taxes, just sales tax.<\/p>\n<p>Even if legislators set a competitive tax rate, building the infrastructure for New Jersey\u2019s legal marijuana industry won\u2019t be easy, and it won\u2019t happen quickly.<\/p>\n<p>Medical marijuana is already legal in New Jersey, but there are only six dispensaries serving a state of nine million people.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSix businesses is not enough for the entire state of New Jersey, obviously,\u201d said Bell.<\/p>\n<p>Eight states and Washington, D.C., have legalized recreational marijuana, and five of those states have already started up retail markets. In that process, medical marijuana dispensaries typically morph into businesses that sell to recreational customers as well, but at higher tax rates, and therefore higher prices.<\/p>\n<p>New retail businesses may open up as well, if they can negotiate the complicated regulatory process.<\/p>\n<p>If the state moves quickly to legalize recreational marijuana and if they allow the medical dispensaries an \u201cearly start\u201d in selling adult-use pot, then \u201cyou could see sales as early as late 2018,\u201d said Bell. \u201cBut it would take longer to set up new stores.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The legal industry would have to be built from the ground up, from the planting of the cannabis seeds to the growth of the plants to the processing into buds or other products like oils and edibles, the transportation of product from the farm to the store and then retail sale to the consumer.<\/p>\n<p>In this way, New Jersey more closely resembles Oregon, which had a limited medical marijuana industry with a scattering of dispensaries prior to legalization of recreational marijuana in 2012.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOregon took two years, and that seems like a reasonable time line,\u201d said Bell. \u201cAbsolute best case scenario, you\u2019re looking at late 2019 [for statewide marijuana sales.]\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/how-new-jersey-could-become-a-1-billion-marijuana-state.jpg\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>News Moderator: Ron Strider <a href=\"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">420 MAGAZINE \u00ae<\/a><br \/>\nFull Article: <a href=\"http:\/\/philadelphia.cbslocal.com\/2017\/11\/10\/how-new-jersey-could-become-a-1-billion-marijuana-state\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How New Jersey Could Become A $1 Billion Marijuana State &lt;&lt; CBS Philly<\/a><br \/>\nAuthor: Aaron Smith<br \/>\nContact: <a href=\"http:\/\/philadelphia.cbslocal.com\/about-us\/contact-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Contact Us &lt;&lt; CBS Philly<\/a><br \/>\nPhoto Credit: Shutterstock<br \/>\nWebsite: <a href=\"http:\/\/philadelphia.cbslocal.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CBS Philly<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If New Jersey follows through on plans to legalize recreational marijuana, analysts believe the Garden State could grow into a&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/2017\/11\/new-jersey-become-1-billion-marijuana-state\/\" class=\"read-more\">[Read More]<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1597,9,1,3],"tags":[4165],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7864"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7864\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}