"Historic" day for New Jersey as state kicks off legal marijuana sales

Residents of New Jersey were able to legally purchase weed from dispensaries for the first time last week.

As of April 21, New Jersey residents over the age of 21 can now buy marijuana at licensed dispensaries. This announcement of legal sales came just three days after regulators greenlit permits for seven dispensaries that were already selling medical cannabis.

Read this next: Cannabis found to prevent COVID in lab research

The state is now one of 18 states that legally sell marijuana. This change came as the State Governor Phil Murphy last-minute signed three bills, one that allows legal sale, one that ends marijuana convictions, and one that imposes penalties for those under 21 consuming cannabis.

Cannabis was fully legalised in February 2021 by the state, after Murphy finalised a highly-contested and debated cannabis package that voters had approved in November 2020. The sale of cannabis only became legal last week.

Read this next: 20 smoked-out dub tunes for your 420 soundtrack

In February 2021, Murphy said: "As of this moment, New Jersey’s broken and indefensible marijuana laws which permanently stained the records of many residents and short-circuited their futures, and which disproportionately hurt communities of colour and failed the meaning of justice at every level, social or otherwise — are no more."

For centres to get approval to start selling the drug, they must agree to prioritise medical patients by having designated patient-only hours and reserved parking for patients who require cannabis.

Currently there are 130,000 medical marijuana patients in the state. The Independent states it is estimated there are around 800,000 recreational users and fewer than 800,000 estimated “tourism” consumers.

Read this next: Bust to boom: How drugs won the war on drugs

The Independent has curated a list of where to find dispensaries in the state. Check it out here.

Aneesa Ahmed is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow her on Twitter