ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — A $1 billion windfall. That's the estimated amount of cash that recreational marijuana could bring to New Jersey in its first year, according to a recent report.

But there's a catch, according to Roseland-based law firm Brach Eichler's "White Paper." The Garden State has to embrace "an aggressive privatization of the industry in which large technology, testing, cultivation, transportation and other industry participants compete for roles and pay upfront licensing, franchising and other fees." In other words, marijuana would need to go corporate.

"At the edges of this industry you have a black-market cohort that wants to legitimize its crop and reduce the risks of its current distribution program," said John Fanburg, managing member and chair of the Health Law Practice at Brach Eichler. "[You also have] another cohort with access to a massive pool of capital if margins are protected," Fanburg added. "In the middle is a new administration desperate to lead the state back to economic relevance and a legislature determined to protect programs that are threatened by fiscal realities. So, while it is unlikely that the state goes all the way and monetizes every component of the industry, as they start to tinker with a new statute, the opportunity to generate upfront cash will prove at least partially irresistible."

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See related article: Marijuana Job Workshop In New Jersey Will Train 'Budtenders' According to Fanburg, New Jersey needs $3 billion to close its budget gap, and it so far has identified cannabis as contributing $300 million from sales tax. "Presumptively, if there is a $2 billion recreational cannabis market in New Jersey, privatized functions could be offered in RFPs that provide lengthy contracts – the type that attract investors who pay up for predictable returns," he said. "A billion dollars is probably a modest estimate of the opportunity New Jersey can potentially realize as it legalizes recreational cannabis."

The question is, how should that billion dollars be spent, according to Charles Gormally, member and chair of the Litigation Practice for Brach Eichler.