New Jersey's cannabis industry is poised to explode in the coming years. On Dec. 15, 2021, the Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) began accepting applications for adult-use Class 1 (cultivation) and Class 2 (processing) licenses. Those licenses are available to both large operators with canopy sizes up to 150,000 square feet, and small operators with canopy sizes limited to 2,500 square feet (known as microbusinesses under the CRC regulations). Processing licenses are uncapped. Cultivation licenses are capped at 37, but only through February 2023, when they too become uncapped. On March 15, 2022, the CRC began accepting applications for adult-use Class 5 (retail) licenses. Those are likewise uncapped.

The CRC continues to sort through submitted applications, and would-be operators continue to submit applications; both the December 2021 and March 2022 Request for Applications periods remain open. It will likely take months for the CRC to evaluate all of the applications it has received, and months more for those awarded provisional licenses to open their doors. But by late 2023, and certainly by early 2024, New Jersey's cannabis marketplace will have experienced significant maturation.