When it comes to legal weed, the waiting has always been the hardest part.
There were the hours spent in line, through a cold night that turned cool but pleasant after the sun came up — just for the chance to be one of the first customers.
“I thought maybe I got here too early,” said Daniel Garcia, the first in line at the RISE Dispensary in Paterson at 3:30 a.m.
There were the 14 months of waiting for the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission to finally give the green light (pun fully intended), and the months before that while legislators bickered over the nuances of the legal weed laws demanded by more than two-thirds of New Jersey voters.
There were three years of “will they or won’t they” even before that, not to mention the years spent in courtrooms, jails and prisons fighting charges of marijuana possession and distribution.
April 21, 2022, was a long time coming.
As one 72-year-old man said yesterday, walking into the Ascend dispensary in Rochelle Park:
“I’ve waited 50 f—ing years for this.”
On Thursday, New Jersey officially began selling licensed and legalized marijuana to anyone over 21 years old. It is only the 15th state where marijuana is legal for any adult over 21 years old, not just those registered as medical marijuana patents. [Read More @ The Asbury Park Press]
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