Two judges clarified a court-ordered stay on New Jersey’s medical cannabis business application review process to apply to all administrative proceedings related to alternative treatment center permits, including the scoring of applications and the ranking and awarding permits.
The New Jersey Department of Health hadn’t halted application review, said Ansell Grimm & Aaron PC Partner Joshua Bauchner, who represents seven applicants whose submissions were rejected before being reviewed due to a technical issue.
“[The clarification of the stay] avoids appellants suffering prejudice from having applications scored separately,” Bauchner said.
An issue with the portal created by the Department of Health to receive ATC license applications last summer prevented the DOH from opening files attached to certain medical cannabis business applications. The DOH rejected those applications, which came from both large and small operators, according to Bauchner, thus resulting in a suit and the eventual court-issued stay.
Judges Garry Rothstadt and Stephanie Ann Mitterhoff clarified the reach of the stay in the appellate division of the Superior Court of New Jersey.
Bauchner, who has filed nine appeals for his clients, said he believes there may be as many as 15 applicants affected by the technical issues.
The DOH does not comment on pending litigation, according to a spokesperson.
