In our spotlight on business report tonight, New Jersey's cannabis industry just hit a major milestone.

Regulators last week approved the state's first ever consumption lounges.

Four locations where people who use recreational and medicinal cannabis can legally light up or consume edibles, much like you would at a coffee shop or a bar.

As Ted Goldberg reports, dispensary owners were ecstatic with the move, calling it a long time coming.

Ramez Maximus has big plans for the cannabis lounge coming to his dispensary in Newark.

This is going to be a beautiful glass door on this side that'll be able, you'll be able to walk into the other side and consume, open your product, have somebody show you how to roll it, how to use if it's dabs, concentrates.

18 months ago, he applied for a license for a cannabis consumption area for Urban, and didn't hear much of a response until last week's meeting by the state's Cannabis Regulatory Commission.

Chairwoman Wainu.

Yes.

The motion passes.

Urban was one of the first four dispensaries statewide to get approval for a lounge, and the only one north of Trenton.

No heads up.

We were just watching the meeting like we always do, and then they pulled up the screen with the consumption approvals, and we went berserk in here.

Everybody was celebrating, jumping up and down.

We had no clue we were going to get approved.

Maximus says the fees and permits cost him about $50,000, and the build-out is between $200,000 and $300,000 for glass doors and proper ventilation.

So it's very similar to a cigar lounge.

So when you're sitting in a cigar lounge and somebody smokes a cigar, that's maybe, you know, this smells a little different than something else.

So it's the same ventilation system, so you're not bothered by somebody smoking something right next to you that's maybe something you don't like or something too strong or too pungent.

It is always clearing out smoke, odors, and it's always pumping in fresh oxygen while maintaining temperature in here.

So it is a complicated system, but it is very necessary.

The state requires it.

Newark requires it.

Once it's done, people can get in with a membership or during special events.

They can bring in outside medical cannabis, but if they want recreational cannabis, they have to buy from him.

We at the commission are excited and look forward to these safe spaces opening up and operating responsibly to give people options for safe and responsible cannabis consumption.

We're blessed.

We're definitely, you know, it's been a tremendous thing for us to have, but there is a lot of other applicants that are waiting in other cities, and we're just kind of like, you know, we got there first.

So with, you know, big blessings come huge responsibility.

So we have to set the bar high and we have to make sure we do the right thing.

For a dispensary to open a lounge, they need the permission of the municipality where they're located, which Maximus secured from Newark.

He thinks a lot more dispensaries will open lounges in the future.

Everyone would love to do this in their dispensaries because it gives you a way to communicate and just be in touch with the customer and give them like visuals while we're explaining things.

But I think a lot of municipalities are a no, and even the ones that are a yes, like Jersey City has delayed the process and have not approved applicants.

There's applicants that are built out, ready to go, and the city is just delaying them.

Urban is a few miles from Newark airport and hopes that proximity leads to him seeing green.

To tell you the truth, with all the latest delays at Newark airport that have been excessive, it might actually be beneficial to us.

So we're, you know, not that we're excited for delays at the airport, but we have a choice for people for something to do besides just sit there and wait around for hours.

The four approved dispensaries have been given endorsements by the CRC, but still need to pass an in-person inspection before giving the green light to light up.

In Newark, I'm Ted Goldberg, NJ Spotlight News.

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