Recreational cannabis sales are getting higher across New Jersey

It’s not just customers getting high in New Jersey’s market for recreational cannabis.

Sales are soaring, too.

Statewide, recreational weed revenues topped $201 million in this year’s first quarter, up by 38 percent from a year earlier, according to New Jersey’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission.

What’s more, dispensaries enjoyed “historically high” sales during the 4/20 cannabis holiday, which this year was a three-day event, the commission said.

“New Jersey is only seeing the beginning of what is possible for cannabis” said Jeff Brown, the commission’s executive director.

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South Jersey dispensary operators shared the same view.

4/20 holiday is cause for celebration at dispensaries

“We’ve achieved steady growth in sales week over week and exceeded our six-month benchmark goals in under five months,” said Tony Minniti, who opened Camden Apothecary Dispensary in November 2013.

He added April 20 was “our highest sales day of the year by almost double.”

The April 20 holiday is "sort of our St. Patrick’s Day or Cinco de Mayo,,” said Scott Rudder, who runs Township Green, a Riverside dispensary.

His business built sales slowly after opening on March 25, “but man, when 4/20 hit, it had a significant and lasting impact,” said Rudder.

He promoted heavily to boost holiday sales, but noted some anxious moments before the strong demand became clear.

“It felt almost like a movie premier,” Rudder said.

“You did everything you could, and everything was just as you hoped it would be,” he observed. “But would everybody come through those doors?”

In fact, he and Minniti say, many new customers from 4/20 are now regulars.

According to the commission, recreational cannabis sales totaled about $4 million on April 19, a Friday, and $5.2 million on 4/20 itself.

In addition to Sunday sales, “the weekend closed out with approximately $12.5 million in recreational and medicinal cannabis sales,” it said in a statement.

Rising sales across the state also show “a shift in consumer behavior as more people are choosing the safety and reliability of the regulated market over untested or questionable products,” said Dianna Houeno, the commission’s chair.

This year’s first quarter sales came from 130 dispensaries, up from 24 in January-March 2023.

“We anticipate that as even more dispensaries open across the state, new brands are introduced to the market, and cannabis becomes less stigmatized, sales numbers will continue to go up,” said Brown.

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email: Jwalsh@cpsj.com.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: More dispensaries, higher sales for state's recreational weed market