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Leading the charge to make New Jersey’s emerging legalized cannabis market more equitable and sustainable are Brown, who serves as executive director of the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission, and Houneou, chair of the five-member board in charge of regulating and licensing.

New Jersey is now home to 100-plus dispensaries nearly two years after adult-use sales began. And the CRC is continuing to take steps to grow the industry. It recently approved several highly anticipated measures, like a framework allowing on-site consumption lounges at medicinal dispensaries and recreational-use retailers as well as guidelines for the launch of cannabis-infused edible products, like drinks, candies and pastry-style treats.

It also opened up three additional classes of business licenses: wholesale, distribution and delivery service.

While the CRC has been criticized over the pace at which the industry is advancing, Brown is confident it is poised to become a $1 billion market within the next year, saying, “All market rollouts take time and we’re on the path to success. And, as I’ve said before, New Jersey can be the premier cannabis market on the East Coast and I think we’ll get there.”

Those efforts also come as the federal government continues mulling whether to move cannabis to a lower risk category under the Controlled Substances Act, with the Drug Enforcement Administration expected to soon make a decision regarding the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ recommendation. If marijuana is moved from a Schedule I to a Schedule III substance, it will be considered to have some medical uses and a moderate-to-low potential for physical and psychological dependence, joining a category that includes certain opioid-based pain medications, testosterone and anabolic steroids.

Despite cannabis being legalized in some form in all but four states, it remains illegal on the federal level, hindering the industry’s growth. Reclassifying it, however, could eliminate some of those hurdles faced by cannabis-related ventures – such as access to banking services, capital and tax breaks – and ultimately better position the emerging sector for success.