In less than a week, legal, adult use marijuana sales will begin in New Jersey.  

Gov. Phil Murphy tweeted Thursday that adults will be able to legally buy cannabis and cannabis products without a medical card, and businesses such as ZenLeaf, have been preparing for this day.

Why has it taken so long for this day to come? According to Jeff Brown, the executive director of the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission, “They had to certify that they had enough supply to continue to supply their patients as well as had the operations in place to ensure that patient access is not impacted by recreational consumers.”   

Gov. Murphy called it an historic step for the Garden State.

The news comes just days after the Cannabis Regulatory Commission approved seven facilities to sell recreational weed in the state. That approval was only for Alternate Treatment Centers that already sell medical marijuana.  

However, there are those in Jersey News 12 spoke with who aren’t so comfortable. Helen Stinson, of New Brunswick, says, “You know, if it’s an adult that’s one thing. And that is the law, that’s the way it’s designed. But you know, I just don’t think it’s right.”

Another dissenting opinion comes from Nick Laskiewicz, of Metuchen, who has his own concerns, such as, “my bigger concern is that it’s going to lead to more drug use, harder drugs.”