The push for legal, recreational marijuana is sweeping across America. Delaware just became the 22nd state to legalize recreational cannabis — and four more states could join the party in the coming years.

Tahir Johnson, a 39-year-old cannabis advocate, is set to open Simply Pure Trenton in Ewing Township, NJ, and become the first entrepreneur with a “cannabis-related conviction to own and operate a legal adult-use dispensary in New Jersey.”

According to NJBIZ, Johnson wants to offer the community a cannabis experience through education, inclusion, social justice. He plans to bring the “best of the best” technology systems to provide Ewing, located just outside of Trenton, with a high-end retail setting full of premium products.

New ground is about to be broken in New Jersey.

NJBIZ reports that Tahir Johnson — the owner of Simply Pure Trenton — is set to become the first entrepreneur with a cannabis-related conviction to own and operate a legal-use dispensary in New Jersey.

John Dockery of Simply Pure Downtown Trenton, Tahir Johnson of Simply Pure Trenton in nearby Ewing Township, and Simply Pure founder Wanda James.

With the right balance, the SAFE Banking Act can help close the gap, be a powerful force for good and begin paving the way for minority entrepreneurs to thrive in the cannabis industry.”

By Tahir Johnson, Minority Cannabis Business Association and Simply Pure Trenton

With the opening of Simply Pure Trenton in his hometown of Ewing, Tahir Johnson will blaze a new trail as he becomes the first entrepreneur with a cannabis-related conviction to own and operate a legal adult-use dispensary in New Jersey.

This Trenton, NJ native is opening his town’s first adult-use cannabis dispensary later this year.

Tahir Johnson, a third-generation native of Ewing Township, N.J., received a blunt warning from his mother during his coming-of-age years in the late 1990s on the north side of Trenton.

“Be careful driving while Black,” his mom, Carolyn Watson Johnson, used to tell him and his brothers.

Noted minority cannabis advocate Tahir Johnson won one of New Jersey’s first 11 exclusively adult-use cannabis dispensary licenses in May.

He is a native of Ewing in Mercer County outside Trenton. He graduated high school there in 2001 and moved away afterward.

“I was the only one of my brothers to go to college. My mom was just so happy I got out of this community alive,” Johnson said.

Whether they are legacy entrepreneurs or people disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs, cannabis license applicants qualifying for social equity laws are prepared and motivated to make the growing marijuana industry a thriving one. As states like New Jersey and New York join the cannabis revolution with progressive cannabis laws and established states like Colorado, California, and Massachusetts introduce cannabis social equity reforms, the efforts to make the cannabis industry more diverse are finally bearing fruit. By being inclusive and empowering social equity applicants with the right tools to succeed, we can ensure a smooth transition from the legacy market to the regulated cannabis retail market in the US.

New Jersey is making headlines with their policy of prioritizing folks with prior cannabis convictions when it comes to working legally in the industry.

While putting social equity first and allowing people of color and those affected by the War on Drugs a chance to enter the industry is nothing new, this state is taking things one step further and actually giving priority to those with convictions.

According to a video by VOA News, Tahir Johnson and Jon Dockery, two lifelong friends, have been arrested multiple times for cannabis possession. Now, thanks to this new law, they will be some of the first who will be able to sell cannabis legally in the state.

Tahir Johnson and his lifelong friend Jon Dockery have been arrested multiple times for marijuana possession. But now, the two men will be among the first who will be able to sell it legally as part of a program set up by the New Jersey’s cannabis regulatory commission. One of the program’s requirements is to have a felony for cannabis-related offenses. But not everybody is in favor of giving perks to former convicts. Aron Ranen has this report. Producer: Igor Tsikhanenka.