in our Spotlight on Business Report New Jersey's recreational marijuana industry has gone quickly from a struggling startup to a booming Market over the last three years more and more entrepreneurs have been able to secure a license and open local businesses but as Melissa Rose Cooper reports the shift from large scale operators to diverse owned dispensaries didn't come without obstacles the symbol of illegal marijuana was like a black door so we wanted to take that black door and make it a safe place for people they can come in and purchase products get information and know actually what they're purchasing so it's not no longer a scary place anymore a sketchy place now it's a place of comfort a place of Wellness a place of Education shako Paul says that desire to change the narrative is what led to naming this Maplewood cannabis dispensary Noir she and her husband Giovani opened the store in September becoming the second blackowned adult youth shop in New Jersey and the first to open in the northern part part of the state the actual process it took 3 years uh to get the doors open uh our process because we had the vision uh my wife and I uh took seven years so this was a seven-year thought process uh five years implementing in 3 years of executing the from the actual initial application with CRC to opening the doors new R is one of 91 cannabis dispensaries open across the Garden State since recreational marijuana was legalized almost three years ago more than 50 of those opened last year alone that's 40 medicinal and recreational 41 uh recreational only and then 10 medicinal only um out of 20 counties in New Jersey 20 to 21 have at least one dispensary open now um and we're processing more and more applications Jeff Brown of the Cannabis Regulatory Commission is excited to see the industry steady growth he says the CRC has received over 2,300 applications and issued over3 100 conditional Awards as well as 150 annual Awards while prioritizing Equitable businesses about 20% of all Awards have gone to social Equity businesses those are businesses owned by people with past marijuana convictions or from economically disadvantaged areas and then about two-thirds of those Awards have gone to diversely Owned businesses those are uh women-owned uh minority owned or disabled veteran owned but while Advocates agree the Cannabis industry is growing there are still some issues businesses face when looking to enter the market like accessing bank loans since marijuana is illegal on the federal level so when you add the fact that municipalities get to opt in and create their own zones you're already restricting the areas where they can operate out of and then if you don't have the capital to acquire that real estate you're kind of out of luck Chelli Patel of Blaze responsibly works with aspiring cannabis businesses looking to open in New Jersey she believes New Jersey is on the right track with the state Economic Development Authority grant program program roll outs for social Equity businesses but says more money in the form of zero or low interest loans would be a huge help and then secondly I think the CRC or the state legislature really needs to give the municipalities guidelines on how to enact ordinances how to have their application procedures because the municipalities are another barrier they make it a lot more difficult for applicants to convert um they have a lot more stringent requirements and they also want to see proof of funding there's definitely a lot of pressure uh getting it right and um just the unknown so it's definitely a lot of pressure and it's also a blessing as well um knowing that others behind us are looking and we're also inspiring others in our community as well and the Pauls say they look forward to serving the community and providing cannabis products in a safe environment for NJ Spotlight news I'm Melissa Rose Cooper [Music]