Cannabis Licensing / Regulatory Compliance
In order to cultivate, produce, extract, test, transport and sell cannabis in New Jersey, a business must have the required state issued license. Currently, only medical cannabis is legal in New Jersey but adult-use is on the horizon. Applying for, and securing a cannabis license is not only a complex process, but a high-risk endeavor. Clients may only have one shot at submitting an application, so every effort must be taken to ensure that the application complies with all applicable regulations and clearly demonstrates an ability to run a successful cannabis business.
The attorneys at Shapiro, Croland, Reiser, Apfel & Di Iorio provide state and local permitting and licensing expertise for medical and recreational cannabis dispensaries, cultivators, manufacturers, producers, edible companies, wholesalers, transportation companies and testing labs. By understanding the complexities of New Jersey’s licensing procedures, we are able to aggressively guide clients towards establishing cannabis businesses and maintaining positive relationships with state and local governments and regulators.
Additionally, given our firm’s vast experience with governmental agencies, we are adept at navigating clients through the complex set of regulations that govern cannabis businesses in New Jersey.
Our licensing and regulatory services include:
- Corporate formation and drafting governance documents
- Assisting in drafting cannabis business plans and other aspects of business development
- Preparing cannabis license applications
- Drafting ancillary policies and documents required for license applications, including:
- Cultivation, production, manufacturing and dispensary standard operating procedures and operations handbooks specific to local compliance
- Employee handbooks and Human Resource policies
- Community outreach plans and diversity policies
- Data and record keeping policies
- Regulatory compliance and best practices policies
- Safety procedures
- Medical marijuana patient procedures and policies
- Interfacing with, and connecting clients to, a variety of consultants and professionals to address:
- Marketing and website design
- Brand development
- Architectural design and construction for retail, warehouse, greenhouse and hybrid facilities
- Security
- Accounting
- Governmental affairs and public relations
- Hiring local talent
- Other cannabis industry specific services
- Establishing local support and acting as liaison between clients and local and state governmental officials/agencies