Pot Giant Denies Using Political Influence To Regain Its New Jersey Cannabis License In Record Time

Cannabis giant Curaleaf CURLF is suspected of using its political connections to reverse an April decision by the NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) to deny its request for a license renewal to cultivate and sell marijuana. 

What happened: The CRC denied the state's largest cannabis supplier’s request to renew an adult-use license, citing several reasons including Curaleaf's closure of a growing facility, lack of transparency and conflicts with unionization.

Former state Attorney General Christopher Porrino appealed the decision in the company’s bid to maintain its ability to sell recreational weed. In just one business day after the license renewal request was denied the CRC board reversed its own decision and voted to approve the company’s license.

So Quickly?

It all happened in an unexpected CRC special meeting, following legal counsel from state Attorney General Matthew Platkin’s office, say sources familiar with the matter who requested to remain anonymous due to not being authorized to speak on the topic,  writes NJ.com.

The Case Was ‘Unprecedented’

Michael Hoffman, a cannabis lawyer who offers free marijuana expungement clinics in NJ,  said that the speed of reversal on Curaleaf was unusual.

“There are applicants who waited dozens of months, if not years, for getting their cannabis license granted,” Hoffman said. “Curaleaf had no license for approximately a day and was able to get that overturned in a special emergency meeting. That was unprecedented ... I had never seen anything like that.”

Hoffman implied that political connections had something to do with this, explaining that Porrino filed an appeal and Governor Phil Murphy’s ally, who was previously the State Democratic Committee’s lawyer was among the lawyers listed.

“I thought it was extremely suspect and there was obviously influence on governmental entities by high-powered lawyers,” Hoffman said. “Former Attorney General Porrino is a very good lawyer and he is well connected. His representation probably had quite a bit to do with the fact that this got dealt with so quickly.”

Curaleaf Denies Accusations

Both a spokesperson from the Attorney General’s office and Curaleaf denied these accusations.

“It is self-serving and outrageous for anyone — especially attorneys who are representing profitable clients in the cannabis industry — to baselessly accuse our office of putting political influence above the public good,” the AG office's statement said. “To be clear, the Attorney General is not personally involved in providing advice to client agencies. Unfounded accusations such as this do a disservice to the dedicated, career public servants in the Division of Law, who zealously advocate for and provide counsel to our state agencies.”

Hoffman commented on the statement saying that his clients are not marijuana businesses, but individual pro bono expungement petitioners. 

Curaleaf also denied the accusations, claiming that the reversal decision was grounded on the facts (the company had no pending violations) and the law.

“To reiterate, the CRC’s April 17 decision to renew Curaleaf’s licenses is firmly grounded in the facts and the law, which overwhelmingly support renewal,” Curaleaf told Benzinga. “Any innuendo that the renewal was influenced by Curaleaf and its lawyers other than through the facts and law is a further attempt to politicize what was and should be an objective regulatory procedure.”

The company is still in the process of finalizing its response to the CRC’s requests for information. 

“In previously attempting not to renew Curaleaf's adult-use licenses, the CRC Board had disregarded the commission's own recommendation to renew Curaleaf's adult-use licenses, and the fact that the company had no pending violations. Curaleaf is finalizing its response to the CRC’s requests for information following their April 17 emergency meeting to renew our adult-use cannabis licenses.

“Our responses will reflect that we have been actively engaged with the local union to ensure that we are following all requirements of the state-mandated labor peace agreement and applicable federal law governing labor relations. The company continues to negotiate collective bargaining agreements in good faith for its Edgewater and Bellmawr dispensaries, where the union has been voluntarily recognized as the bargaining representative.”

The company added that it has not made any changes to its facility in Bellmawr that needed advance approval of the CRC, which was confirmed by the commission's staff. 

“As the CRC board noted in its (amended) Final Agency Decision of April 17, and despite “conditions” on the renewal included in the FAD, actions against Curaleaf’s licenses must be based on violations of the laws and regulations under the CRC’s jurisdiction that have been determined through due process. No such violations occurred,” the company concluded in an email statement to Benzinga. 

‘Hold Their Feet To The Fire’

There was no reason provided for why the commission reversed its decision. The AG and governor’s office declined to comment, said the outlet.

It is important to note that the commission’s initial decision to deny Curaleaf’s request for license renewal was welcomed by many. CRC commissioner Krista Nash said it was a “wake-up call for many cannabis companies doing business in New Jersey. Let me make this very clear — It is time that we favor people over profits.”

While it is clear that CRC is unable to force them to unionize, “they can hold their feet to the fire,” concluded a lawyer familiar with the case though unauthorized to speak about it. After all, the unionization efforts across the cannabis industry have never been stronger.

Read more details on the case at nj.com.

Photo: Benzinga edit with images by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels and Diyahna Lewis on Unsplash