Did Atlantic City live up to it’s promise of enforcing NO CANNABIS SMOKING laws on the Boardwalk?
Certainly doesn’t smell like it.
And what about illegal cannabis sales? Still plenty of that too.
When New Jersey voters elected to legalize adult-use cannabis in 2020, it was seen as a watershed moment for revenue, local jobs and so-called ‘social justice’.
LISTEN: Casino exec Mark Giannantonio talks illegal weed on Atlantic City Boardwalk:
According to MJBIZDAILY.com: New Jersey cannabis ecosystem remains underdeveloped and underperforming.
Despite New Jersey’s wealth and dense population, marijuana market not reaching potential
MJBIZDAILY.com : Stunted development of New Jersey cannabis market is result of local and state policy decisions that unduly burden licensed marijuana businesses while ignoring, and often facilitating, the proliferation of illicit operators.
LISTEN: AC Councilman, George Tibbitt. AUG 2024, WPG Radio.
Recent proposal by Gov. Phil Murphy to increase cannabis tax has potential to boost illegal cannabis market.
New Jersey’s illicit Weed market thrives.
marijuana / Cannabis retail landscape
There are about 250 licensed marijuana / cannabis stores in New Jersey.
Only 28% of NJ towns allow cannabis retailers to operate within their borders.
Many New Jersey marijuana retailers squeezed into small number of cities like Atlantic City, Camden, Newark and Jersey City.
CRDA in Atlantic City continues to support upwards of 40+ cannabis operations within the AC ‘Green Zone’.
WATCH AC Cannabis Czar; Kash McKinley:
Most NJ towns prohibit cannabis shops. This contributes to a persistent illicit market, while most legal operators face fierce competition in oversaturated local markets, like Atlantic City.
LEARN MORE at MJ Biz Daily: Get the Facts
Hirsh Jain, Director of Market Intelligence, Verdant Stategies
Hirsh Jain is the Director of Market Intelligence at Verdant Strategies, a cannabis financial services and solutions company helping operators in the U.S. and Canada enter the German market. Verdant brings a wealth of experience and understanding of the cannabis industry and provides tailored financial services that help drive success for these businesses. Jain is on X, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
Cannabis retail sales are weak because you can’t throw a stone in AC without hitting a dispensary. Too many in a small 48 block area. The people who invested in a dispensary have way too much competition. I will be surprised if half are closed by this time next year.
We just sold our Atlantic City location to focus on our NYC locations which are thriving.
We invested a great deal of $ on promises Atlantic City made to us.
Dealing with AC has been a nightmare. They reneged on every guarantee. AC failed to provide police support of which we were contributing a significant amount.
AC also failed at keeping the streets clean (also on our dime).
We were told there would only be 10 dispensaries when the decision was made to invest.
There is supposedly 40+ in the pipeline.
There’s no way to profit with that kind of saturation.