To find recreational pot shops in NJ, click here or scroll down.

New Jersey is buzzing about recreational cannabis sales which begin today, 4/21, at a handful of politically-connected pot shops scattered across the state. But the activists who did the work to make it all happen, they all celebrated in Trenton yesterday, on 4/20, the holiday of stoners. Through the smoke and haze, the message was resounding: the black market is alive and will thrive as long as NJ’s cannabis industry is dominated by greedy dispensaries and overwhelmed regulators.

So much free weed

Given the novelty factor and pent up demand, there will be long lines at all 13 pot shops selling recreational weed today. Your money will overflow their tills too many times to count.

Chris Goldstein, in Trenton for the 4/20 rally, shared this metaphor:

Let me try to explain 4/21’s cannabis sales opening from an alcohol-consumer perspective: Imagine if every bottle of scotch cost $1,000 in New Jersey, had a 25% tax, and was only available for walk-up purchase in 13 locations.

Today’s milestone will come with fanfare, but once the novelty wears off, do consumers really want to spend so much money for weed that’s only so-so? I doubt it. And that’s why NJ’s black market cannabis industry will thrive for the time being.

To demonstrate their economic vitality and staying power, several black market entrepreneurs showed up at yesterday’s rally to rain down several pounds of free weed on the assembled crowd. I noticed multiple gallon-sized ziplock bag stuffed with high quality flowers, all free for anyone who raised their hand.

Not recognizing the generosity before me, I was shy at first and frankly a little stunned, no doubt the result of my abusive relationship with NJ’s over-priced medical cannabis program. But after watching a them giving away so much free weed to everyone else, I finally thrust my hand into the air.

When the guy with good stuff arrived, he urged me to take what I wanted and when I grabbed what felt a lot, my friend Tracy rolled her eyes and smiled as I stuffed my sticky, dank windfall into my bag.

“Don’t be so stuck up, Jay,” she cooed, grabbing several massive handfuls which also ended up in my bag.

When a good samaritan dumped a full-sized cooler of weed onto a picnic table, the mad scramble for free buds almost knocked me over.

“Like a bunch of stoned velociraptors!” Mr. Goldstein observed.

The whole scene, an impressive flex by the black market, left me flush with high-grade cannabis products including flowers, edibles candies, and concentrates. I weighed the buds on my kitchen scale and the bounty, 23 grams in all, would retail for about $500 dollars at one of NJ’s legal pots shops. Plus tax. Combine that with the edibles and the concentrate and I’ll be stoned 24/7 through July 4th and if I invited all my friends (plus Snoop Dogg + a herd of elephants bulls) there’s plenty for them too.

Normally, I’d namecheck anyone generous enough to pay my pot bills for the next 3 months, but I won’t this time to discourage the Attorney General from sniffing around and frankly because I  don’t want them harassed by legal dispensaries looking to preserve their cartel. But they’re not hiding. And they were out in force yesterday, loads of name-branded swag all over the place.

Did I mention this all played out on the State House lawn in Trenton, our actual seat of government, without a cop in sight the entire day?

The whole things was surreal.

It almost felt like we’d won the War of Drugs.

Unionization of Pot Shops

The unionization trend taking hold at places like Starbucks and Amazon has already converted a few NJ dispensaries into union stores, ensuring a better deal for workers in NJ’s cannabis industry.

Hugh Giordano is Director of Organizing at United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) local 360, based in Berlin, NJ. He leads efforts to raise working standards in NJ’s cannabis industry. He was on hand hand for yesterday’s 4/20 event, savoring the atmosphere.

“Workers understand their worth,” Mr. Giordano told InsiderNJ. “They understand how important their skills are to this industry. Most importantly, they see profits coming in and they don’t see that trickling down.”

In the past two weeks, Mr. Giordano scored notable victories unionizing cultivation- and dispensary workers at The Botanist in Egg Harbor as well as dispensary workers at Cannabist (aka Columbia Care) in Deptford.

Mr. Giordano described a contentious organizing process at Columbia Care where management rejected a labor peace agreement and worked to stall UFCW’s momentum. Those efforts failed when Columbia Care workers overwhelmingly voted to unionize, 14-to-1.

Mr. Giordano called Botanist a “good partner, the exact total opposite” of Columbia Care’s adversarial approach.

Savvy Stoners

Don’t be fooled by all the pot smoke and tie dye. Yesterday’s cannabis carnival was comprised of some of the savviest advocates in Trenton such as Edward Grimes and Ken Wolski, two movement stalwarts already focused on making medical cannabis more affordable and improving physical access at dispensaries for cannabis consumers in wheel chairs.

Finally, here’s a list of NJ pot shops, alphabetically by county, selling recreational cannabis as of today, 4/25:

Atlantic County

The Botanist 100 Century Dr, Egg Harbor Township. Map. Phone: (609) 277-7547

Bergen Co

Ascend 174 NJ-17, Rochelle Park. Map. Phone: (973) 370-3150

Burlington Co

Curaleaf 4237 South US-130, Edgewater Park. Map. 609-232-7690 (Call First!!)

Camden Co

Curaleaf 640 Creek Rd, Bellmawr. Map. 856-933-8700

Cumberland Co

Cannabist (aka Columbia Care) 1062 N Delsea Dr, Vineland. Map. 856-213-9445

Essex Co

RISE 26-48 Bloomfield Ave, Bloomfield. Map. 973-327-3442

Apothecarium (aka TerrAscend) 1865 Springfield Ave, Maplewood. Map. 973-996-1420

Gloucester Co

Cannabist (aka Columbia Care) 1692 Clements Bridge Rd, Deptford. Map. (856) 322-2829

The Botanist 2090 N Black Horse Pike, Williamstown. Map. 856-478-3530

Mercer Co

Zen Leaf  3256 Brunswick Pike, Lawrence Township. Map. 908-676-5936

Passaic Co

RISE 196 3rd Ave #3c, Paterson. Map. 973-440-2717

Union Co

Zen Leaf 117 Spring St, Elizabeth. Map. 908-676-5936

Warren Co

Apothecarium (aka TerrAscend) 55 S Main St, Phillipsburg. Map. 908-777-7420