Less than four years after adult-use cannabis sales began, a wave of dispensary closures is sweeping the state, revealing a market where the odds are stacked fiercely against new entrants.
High-profile ventures backed by celebrities like rapper Ice-T and Wu-Tang Clan’s Raekwon have shuttered within a year, emblematic of a system struggling under its own weight.
The Medicine Woman in Jersey City, co-owned by Ice-T, locked its doors in early 2026 after a grand opening just last April. Hashstoria in Newark, associated with Raekwon and media personality Charlamagne Tha God, was evicted in mid-2025. They are not alone…