Legal marijuana sales licenses give second chance to ex-cons

TRENTON, N.J. – Tahir Johnson has been arrested for marijuana possession three times. Now, for the first time in his life, the convictions won’t hurt his employment prospects. They’ll help.

Johnson, 39, will be one of the first people with a marijuana-related conviction to own and operate a legal dispensary in New Jersey when he opens Simply Pure Trenton next month in his hometown of Ewing, which borders the state’s capital city. Last year, he was among about a dozen in the state to win a conditional license because of his status as a “social equity applicant.”

“I checked all the boxes,” Johnson said of his application. “And I was especially confident because of my previous arrests.” 

New Jersey is prioritizing granting licenses to dispensaries run by minorities, women and disabled veterans; dispensaries located in “impact zones” or communities disproportionately impacted by policing and marijuana arrests; and dispensaries run by people with prior marijuana convictions. It’s a part of a concerted effort to redress decades of racially biased anti-drug policies.

Johnson fit into all three priority categories. Since he won his conditional license, he raised capital, purchased a property and secured approval from municipal authorities. 

A conditional license is a provisional license that allows awardees to begin operating while they fulfill requirements for an annual license. The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission, or CRC, issued the first 11 of them in May 2022. Since then, about one-quarter of all licenses have gone to social equity applicants, and 16% went specifically to applicants with prior marijuana convictions, according to a recent report from the agency.

“It’s a full circle moment,” said Johnson, whose past is riddled with run-ins with police, overnight stays in jail, and court battles over small amounts of marijuana recovered during traffic stops. These days, Johnson spends his time hiring staff, meeting with contractors and preparing merchandise. He expects the business will profitable.

“The generational wealth this will create for my family is surreal,” he said. 

In the third quarter of 2022, there were $177 million in marijuana sales across the state, including $116 million in recreational sales alone, according to data from the Cannabis Regulatory Commission.