Curaleaf can sell NJ legal weed after all, cannabis regulators decide

TRENTON - Just four days after its stunning denial, New Jersey cannabis regulators reversed course and renewed a dispensary chain's license to sell legal weed to recreational customers at two South Jersey locations.

Curaleaf, which operates 150 dispensaries in the United States, will be allowed to continue selling legal weed for recreational use for at least another year after the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission on Monday voted to vacate its April 13 denial.

The approval requires the company to report evidence of good faith efforts to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement with its unionized New Jersey employees, commission chair Dianna Houenou said.

The commission did not publicly announce an emergency meeting on the subject, other than a pop-up window on its website.

“Today’s decision by the CRC Board to vacate their unprecedented action last week is an incredible victory for our 500 NJ team members and vindication for what we knew all along: Curaleaf is in good standing with the CRC and has fulfilled every requirement necessary for the renewal of our licenses," Curaleaf CEO Matt Darin said in a statement.

Shortly after the initial rejection last week, the company issued a fiery statement calling the decision "an outrageous act of political retaliation." On Monday morning, it arranged a protest in front of the Statehouse over the decision, claiming commissioners put "over 500 jobs at risk."

Potential job losses were at the center of the rejection in the first place, after commissioners took umbrage with Curaleaf's decision to close its cultivation center in Bellmawr without providing any notification, including on its renewal application.

Commissioner Krista Nash initially voted against renewing Curaleaf's license. But on Monday, she said the denial was a "wake-up call" that reminded companies of labor requirements within the New Jersey marijuana legalization laws. Under those laws, cannabis companies must maintain a labor peace agreement, allow its employees to vote to unionize and reach a contract within 200 days.

Thirty-five of the 40 employees working at the center were offered new jobs, Curaleaf chief compliance officer James Shorris told the commission. The remaining five employees were not due to job performance or other issues, he said.

"In my opinion, Curaleaf, in several of its locations, have not complied with the mandatory labor provisions set forth in the law, and that alone was reason to deny their application for renewal," Nash said. "The conditions contained in this resolution presented today offers Curaleaf a second chance to course-correct."

Curaleaf, which is headquartered in New York, reported over $1.2 billion in revenue for the 2021 fiscal year, including nearly $586 million on cannabis sales alone, according to financial documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Curaleaf has been reckoning with the biggest downturn in the cannabis industry since states began selling legal weed in 2014. Across the country, cannabis prices have fallen to new lows as supplies hit an all-time high in states where it's been available for years.

In January, Curaleaf announced that it would close most of its locations in California, Colorado and Oregon in order to "(focus) on the markets that are generating strong profits and are very stable markets."

The announcement came less than two months after it laid off an additional 220 employees.

Mike Davis has spent the last decade covering New Jersey local news, marijuana legalization, transportation and a little bit of everything else. He's won a few awards that make his parents very proud. Contact him at mdavis@gannettnj.com or @byMikeDavis on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NJ legal weed: Curaleaf OK'd sell recreational marijuana after all