New Jersey regulates cannabis through the Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJ-CRC), which issues six annual license classes. Nearly every deal we broker involves one or more of these, so understanding what each permits — and what it doesn't — is the starting point for any buyer or seller.
Class 1 — Cultivator. Covers growing operations: indoor, mixed-light, and outdoor canopy. Valuation here centers on canopy size, yield history, and remaining build-out capacity, not just the license itself.
Class 2 — Manufacturer. Covers processing raw cannabis into finished goods — extraction, edibles, vapes, topicals. Equipment condition and any proprietary formulations or IP typically drive value alongside the license.
Class 3 — Wholesaler. Covers the sale of cannabis items between licensees — buying from cultivators or manufacturers and selling to retailers, without necessarily touching the retail consumer. A smaller but important link in the supply chain.
Class 4 — Distributor. Covers transportation of cannabis items between licensed facilities. Value drivers include fleet condition, route relationships, and security/compliance infrastructure.
Class 5 — Retailer. Covers dispensaries — the license most buyers ask about first. Many NJ retailers are dual-licensed for both medical and adult-use sales, which affects everything from customer base to tax treatment (see our 280E guide).
Class 6 — Delivery. Covers delivery-only operations, which can stand alone or pair with a retail license. Often the lowest barrier to entry for a first-time cannabis operator.
One license doesn't always mean one business. New Jersey generally limits how many of these classes a single entity can hold at once — vertical integration is restricted, with some flexibility for smaller microbusiness license holders. If you're structuring a deal that spans more than one class, confirm current ownership limits with NJ-CRC or cannabis counsel before you get too far into negotiations.
Why this matters when you're buying or selling. The license class shapes almost everything else in a deal: what due diligence looks like, how the business is valued, and how long NJ-CRC approval takes. A cultivation deal and a dispensary deal are structured very differently, even though both are "cannabis transactions" on paper.