New Jersey fined some of the U.S,’s largest marijuana companies for violating rules put in place when the state started sales of recreational pot in April.
Curaleaf Holdings Inc. and four other dispensaries with locations in New Jersey processed almost 3,200 recreational sales during hours that should have been reserved for medical patients, according to state cannabis commission documents obtained through an Open Public Records Act request.
On April 21—the day that medical dispensaries opened their doors to recreational buyers—Curaleaf’s Bellmawr location alone processed 142 such transactions, the documents show. Another operator, Acreage, recorded a total of 257 such sales on the first day at its Egg Harbor and Williamstown shops.
The transactions were “to the detriment of the medicinal patient population,” Jeff Brown, executive director of the cannabis commission, wrote in violation notices dated May 13. The notices, which were reviewed by Bloomberg News, were sent to five dispensaries: Curaleaf, Ascend Wellness Holdings Inc., Verano Holdings Corp., Acreage Holdings Inc. and Green Thumb Industries Inc.
The five businesses face a total $360,000 in fines for the transactions, from April 21 to April 29, the documents show. The total was calculated at $10,000 for each day on which alleged violations occurred: Verano, $90,000; Green Thumb and Ascend, $80,000 each; Acreage, $60,000; and Curaleaf, $50,000. [Read more at Fortune]
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