NJCBA forms working group to engage CRC about hemp

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The New Jersey CannaBusiness Association formed a hemp working group to evaluate how to create a robust hemp program in New Jersey as more attention is given to its cannabis program.

The group, announced June 3, will engage with state cannabis regulators, advocate for proposed regulations/legislation, initiate educational programming, and promote safe harbor for resource allocation.

“The Hemp Working Group is, to our knowledge, the only organized effort to ensure that the hemp industry is not lost in the development of cannabis regulation,” said NJCBA President Edmund DeVeaux in a prepared statement. “The cannabis industry is rapidly expanding in New Jersey, and we must ensure that all aspects are thoroughly examined and thought through. The potential with hemp is limitless if properly planned out moving forward.”

The NJCBA’s Hemp Working Group is comprised of Faye Coleman, CEO of Pure Genesis; Brett Goldman, partner at OCan Group LLC; and Eric Axelson, owner of Garden State Harvest.

The three members, each armored with hemp industry experience in other states, will provide input and feedback to the Cannabis Regulatory Commission and the public in the hopes of helping to craft a strong hemp policy.

“While the discussion in New Jersey has centered largely around cannabis, and understandably so, we cannot ignore the many positive benefits hemp brings to our state. We hope to work with the CRC and the industry in general to create the country’s greatest, most thriving hemp market right here in New Jersey,” said Coleman in a prepared statement.

Among some of the ideas the group has shared with the CRC are reducing production costs for medical and adult-use cannabis processors and patients in New Jersey, improving access to high-quality CBD products for medical cannabis patients, and demonstrating a strong relationship and interoperability between the New Jersey Department of Agriculture and the CRC.

“There are experiences and best practices from other states that we can learn from,” said Goldman in a prepared statement. “Taking the best ideas and learning from other’s mistakes, we have enormous potential to make New Jersey a leader in this area. The opportunity is there, now we just have to seize it.”