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Months after many in the marijuana industry expected to see New Jersey’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission up and running, only one top state official has made his pick.

State Senate President Stephen Sweeney has selected Krista Nash, a South Jersey social worker married to Camden County Freeholder Jeff Nash, two sources familiar with the nomination told NJ Cannabis Insider.

The other positions, slated to be filled by Gov. Phil Murphy and state Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, remain vacant.

The commission came with the passage of the Jake Honig Compassionate Use Act, which expanded the state’s medical marijuana program. It established the commission to take control of the medical marijuana program from the Department of Health. It called for five members; three appointed by Murphy and one each by Sweeney, D-Gloucester, and Coughlin, D-Middlesex.

Lawmakers designed the commission to draft rules and regulations for the burgeoning medical cannabis industry, and ultimately the legal weed industry, should New Jersey voters approve a ballot question this November on whether the Garden State should legalize marijuana.

The panel echoes the origins of the Casino Control Commission, a body tasked with overseeing and adapting to a new industry likely to face unforeseen obstacles.

Sweeney, who confirmed he had picked an appointee but did not say who, stressed the need to get the commission seated and working before the November election.

“There’s no need to waste eight months because the enabling legislation is going to take a lot of negotiation,” he said. “So have it ready, have everything ready. And after the November election, the first voting session in December, pass the enabling legislation. And by June you’ll have your marijuana industry up and running.”

According to the law, which took effect July 2, the commission should have established its rules and regulations for the medical cannabis industry within six months. That window closed Jan. 2, but an official in the governor’s administration who spoke on the condition of anonymity last month noted the law did not include a six-month statutory deadline to seat the commission, only that it must come up with rules by such a time.

Once the commission is seated, it will be in violation of the six-month deadline, the administrative official conceded. But due to a loophole in the wording, Murphy and Coughlin have not technically violated the statute by dragging their feet on the names.

Nash declined to speak for this report. Her LinkedIn shows she works as the program director for the PROMISE Program at Volunteers of America Delaware Valley. She has experience in mental health counseling and clinical social work.

Anyone appointed to the commission must live in the state, but at least one person must have served as a state representative of a national organization dedicated to “studying, advocating or adjudicating against minority historical oppression, past and present discrimination, unemployment, poverty and income inequality, and other forms of social injustice or inequality,” the law mandates.

All members must come from backgrounds in legal, policy or criminal justice issues, corporate or industry management, finance, securities, production or distribution, medicine or pharmacology, public health, mental health or substance use disorders.

The commission’s executive director may be paid up to $141,000, while others can make as much as $125,000, according to the law.

Coughlin has not made his nomination, but has begun vetting candidates, Kevin McArdle, a spokesman for the Assembly Majority Office, confirmed.

Murphy’s office did not respond to an inquiry as to whether or not the Democratic governor has picked his three appointees, and did not provide a comment on the delay.

During an NJ Cannabis Insider meet-up in January, cannabis attorney Fruqan Mouzon said he believed the two lawsuits holding up the 2019 licensing process may be to blame.

“I would not seat the (commission) until this last (application) process is done,” Mouzon said. “Who’s in charge? Is it the (health department)? Is it the (commission)?”

Nine medical marijuana dispensaries currently operate around the state, and five more are expected to open this year. The health department was in the process of licensing as many as 24 new businesses, until two lawsuits put evaluations on hold.

A version of this story originally appeared in NJ Cannabis Insider. Are you interested in the cannabis industry? Subscribe here for exclusive insider information.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report.

Amanda Hoover can be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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