“The path to get there does not have to be any specific length of time,” said Jeff Brown, executive director of the state’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission.
Officials said on Monday that each of the cannabis companies had demonstrated that they had enough supply for both medical and recreational customers.
Smaller entrepreneurs also hoping to open recreational cannabis shops in New Jersey have filed 327 applications for retail licenses since March 15, but decisions about those applicants are not expected for at least another month.
The exact timing for the first legal sales and the locations of each of the 13 medical-marijuana dispensaries remains unclear.
Its store in Paramus will be reserved for medical-use sales only, she said.
Each medical-marijuana company in New Jersey is permitted to operate as many as three dispensaries, although not all do.
In northern New Jersey, companies approved for expanded sales also operate dispensaries in Elizabeth, Maplewood, Montclair and Rochelle Park.
Last month, the commission put off making a decision about whether to permit medical-marijuana shops to begin selling products to all adults, citing supply constraints and other concerns.
Racial and social justice played a key role in New Jersey’s move to legalize cannabis, and commission members reiterated their support on Monday for moving quickly to fully license companies run by people most harmed by the war on drugs.
Over the last month, New Jersey’s newly created cannabis commission has given conditional approval to 102 companies that applied to either grow or manufacture cannabis.
“I really do think this is the beginning of the model for the nation,” said William J.
In Massachusetts, taxes generated by cannabis sales in the second half of last year were more than double the revenue from liquor sales, state tax records show.