The New Jersey Monitor reports
More than $6 million collected from a cannabis tax has been sitting unused even though the state’s cannabis agency has sent spending recommendations to the Legislature for three years.
The millions in revenue — collected from what’s called the social equity excise fee — have been accumulating since recreational cannabis sales began in 2022. The tax is paid by cannabis cultivators, and the revenue is intended to be used for projects in towns impacted by the war on drugs.
The Cannabis Regulatory Commission set the fee at $2.50 per ounce for 2025, more than double last year’s amount. Activists had urged the panel to raise the fee to the maximum of $30 in hopes of more money going to social equity projects.
As of August 2024, the balance in the fund was more than $6 million, according to the commission.
The commission can’t appropriate the money. The state’s recreational cannabis law requires the funds to be allocated by the Legislature while crafting the annual state budget.
But the commission has submitted three reports to state lawmakers, Houenou noted, urging the Legislature to use the money for economic development in communities hurt by marijuana prohibition, access to legal counsel for entrepreneurs and people leaving prison, and more grants for cannabis businesses.
The commission also holds hearings every year during which the public suggests where these funds should go.
$6M+ in social equity tax funds sitting unspent, cannabis agency says
