New Jersey Gubernatorial Candidates Need To Step Up For Cannabis Consumers (Op-Ed)

New Jersey cannabis election stakes are high—and not just because the room smells like pine and pepper. The Garden State is running a quiet economic revolution through its legal cannabis market, even if the candidates for governor act like it’s just another deli on the corner. Voters—nearly three million of them—already settled the moral panic in 2020 with a 67 percent mandate. Left, right, center—it didn’t matter. People wanted legal cannabis, regulated and real, not baggies with a shrug. Four years later, the turnout bloc that greenlit this industry is still here, looking for specifics on cannabis taxation, consumer protection, and a fair shake for patients. The New Jersey cannabis market isn’t a novelty anymore. It’s a working engine, a humming factory floor of growers, retailers, couriers, and clerks. If the gubernatorial hopefuls want to drive it, they need to get in the cab and learn the gears.

Mikie Sherrill has the résumé of someone who reads policy briefs past the executive summary. She’s backed federal reform, pressed to deschedule cannabis, and signaled support for personal home cultivation—remarkable for a former federal prosecutor. That’s a promise of normalcy: a small garden, some autonomy, less theater. Jack Ciattarelli arrives from the other direction, with a 2021 record of opposing adult-use legalization and a newer, careful willingness to endorse medical home grow. That halfway house won’t cut it for consumers paying top-shelf prices that feel like luxury taxes in disguise. New Jersey’s medical cannabis program, once a lifeline, limps along with too few doctors participating and too many patients priced out. The next governor doesn’t need platitudes about responsible use. We need a plan to simplify licensing, protect patients, fix access deserts, and bring home cultivation out of the shadows and into the sunlight.

Follow the money. New Jersey’s agriculture—blueberries, corn, stubborn tomatoes—spins roughly $1.5 billion in retail sales across more than 10,000 farms. Fewer than 200 cannabis operators pulled in north of $1 billion last year, all of it spent inside state lines. Legal cannabis revenue is not a mirage; it’s a market with receipts. It’s poised to elbow its way into the state’s top three industries, behind pharma and tourism. But someone has to mind the store. The governor’s office appoints the referees, sets the tempo on rules, and can adjust certain cannabis-related taxes that decide whether the consumer pays a fair price or bankrolls a luxury commodity. And while the culture war keeps shouting, the science keeps fiddling with the dials: evidence on public health is complex, and even surprising findings—like those noted in Frequent Marijuana Use Is Tied To Lower Risk Of Liver Disease From Alcohol, New Study Finds—should inform measured policy rather than fear-based theatrics. Meanwhile, look across state lines to see what not to do with those dollars: unspent balances meant for good work can calcify into political liabilities, as seen when funds sat idle while treatment programs waited—a cautionary tale captured in West Virginia Medical Marijuana Revenue Is Supposed To Support Drug Treatment Programs, But Sits Unspent As Officials Worry About Federal Prohibition. New Jersey can’t afford that kind of drift.

So what does a grownup cannabis platform look like? Start with cannabis taxation reform aimed at price relief for consumers and patients. Bake in home cultivation with sensible plant limits and safety rules. Fix the medical program with lower fees, better provider participation, and protection against supply shocks when adult-use demand spikes. Expand access in municipalities that opted out, using incentives rather than cudgels. Mandate clearer labeling, standardized potency disclosures, and recall transparency. Fund equity programs that actually cut checks, not just cut ribbons. And do all of it with the humility that comes from watching other states stumble—like policy retrenchments that chip away at voter mandates, as chronicled in Ohio bill to scale back cannabis legalization passed by House (Newsletter: October 23, 2025)—or slow-rolling medical access while patients wait, a lesson underscored by regional debates such as Wisconsin Senators Hold Hearing On GOP Leader’s New Medical Marijuana Legalization Bill, With Plan To Vote On It ‘Fairly Quickly’. New Jersey should be exporting best practices, not importing hesitations.

Here’s the unvarnished truth, served neat: every dollar of profit, every dime of tax, every ribbon-cutting in this industry comes from the same place—the consumer at the counter, cardholder or casual. We’ve delivered nearly a billion in taxes already, and we vote. If the candidates want to meet the “cannabis voter,” they won’t find them at a staged press conference. They’ll find them after work, in line, comparing prices, asking if the terp profile matches the mood they’re trying to salvage from a long day. Talk to those people. Tell them how you’ll stabilize prices, expand access, and respect the will of 2020. Do that, and you’re not just courting a constituency—you’re showing you understand the new economy humming under Jersey’s streetlights. If you’re ready to explore the legal market’s finest, start here: our shop.