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The weed holiday of 420 this year was a great celebration for the New Jersey cannabis community as the market blooms.
Yesterday, April 21st, was also the second anniversary of the legal New Jersey adult-use cannabis market opening in 2022.
Governor Phil Murphy (D) posted about it on social media:
Along with his celebrity post, digital traffic signs on New Jersey roads over the weekend cautioned drivers not to consume and drive since it’s illegal.
4/20 Partying
Licensed dispensaries and underground operators threw a wide range of parties and festivals across New Jersey over the weekend. The vast majority were on 420 itself. A few deals continued yesterday.
Among the dispensary parties, The Library dispensary of West Orange held a fun brunch of professionals and consumers at the Light Rail Cafe in Jersey City. People enjoyed consuming on the roof.
NJ Smokers Club was one of the few to throw a 4/20 Eve underground legacy market and party. In the warm party tent outside the market, they featured a cloud cannon that got everyone a good contact high.
Very Potent Festival Held in Jersey City
The Very Potential Festival in Jersey City was held for the second time by the I-78 highway to NYC through the Holland Tunnel.
It was organized by Jersey City entrepreneur and owner of the upcoming Xenia dispensary, formerly Medusa, Haytham Elgawly. He announced to the crowd they will be open later this year in McGinley Square. At 4:20PM everyone celebrated.
The Very Potenti Festival featured a great diverse crowd with the established Joy Leaf dispensary, which has corporate Multi-State Operator (MSO) ties to mingle and co-exist with underground legacy brands, legacy to legal brands, and upcoming dispensaries like Legacy to Lifted and Joy Leaf in Jersey City and Bud2Bloom in Roxbury in Morris County.
Joy Leaf Co-founder leader Dharsh Casinathen, an Indonesian Canadian American, was featured on a panel with Jersey City residents and the Number Spot Dispensary owner Naimah Terry about the industry.
Casinathen noted the difficulties opened and explained they carry a few brands that are Black-owned and underground legacy to legal. They also plan to carry the small, locally owned Mojo Botanica manufacturer by July.
The Legacy to Lifted brand was there in full force. They gave away a lot of weed through a drone that flew over the crowd and dropped joints.
There were also performances by musical several acts that kept the large crowd entertained.
420 Parties Throughout Jersey
About half a dozen dispensaries across the state opened on 420. They did so either with a soft opening that was quiet or Grand Opening parties with a ribbon cutting, guests, and a little party. About another dozen dispensaries threw parties to celebrate the occasion and entice customers.
Others held bigger events, for example, Baked By The River Dispensary of Lambertville held a party with upcoming independent cultivators on a farm near their place. Thus the NJ cannabis community enjoyed itself in many ways.
420 Less Political as Legalization Continues
It’s three years after Murphy signed the Cannabis Regulatory Enforcement and Marijuana Modernization Act (CREAMMA) into law. So 4/20 has become less political overall in New Jersey.
Sativa Cross organized 4/20 protests at the State House in Trenton in the past. They continued on afterward after the signing. However, the gatherings acquired the air of a leisurely victory celebration and underground market versus an angry protest.
There is one issue that angers many in the New Jersey cannabis community, especially patients and the underground and some of the industry. Unfortunately home grow remains a felony despite legalization.
So there will be a protest for it today organized by owners of the cannabis lab tester Trichome Analytical and Honey Grove Dispensary of Gloucester Township (that Heady NJ is advertising with full disclosure.)
