N.J. Cannabis Regulatory Commission keeps social-equity excise fee at $2.50, approves licenses and fines multiple businesses

The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission on Dec. 17 resumed a public session after an executive meeting on legal matters and adopted a series of licensing, rule and enforcement actions. Chairwoman Wenu presided over unanimous votes that approved new and renewed licenses, certified laboratory capacity and kept the social equity excise fee at $2.50 per ounce for calendar year 2026.

Acting Executive Director Chris Riggs briefed commissioners on market metrics showing rising sales and falling prices. "We have more than 270 medical and recreational adult use dispensaries open in all 21 counties," Riggs said, noting 3,128 applications received as of Nov. 18, 2025, and a range of conditional and annual licenses active as of Dec. 3. Riggs told the commission adult-use sales rose roughly 12.3% year over year and that October-to-October sales were nearly 20% higher even as the adult-use flower price fell from $10.98 per gram (Oct. 2024) to $8.09 (Oct. 2025).

Riggs also reported ongoing investigations into some testing laboratories for possible inflation of THCA/THC results and for yeast-and-mold reporting inconsistencies, saying staff noticed that "some labs are probably accurately reporting their results and some…