New Jersey has licensed 14 new marijuana businesses, bringing a long-awaited expansion of the state’s medical marijuana program that exceeds original plans.

The Cannabis Regulatory Commission on Friday announced the winners of a competitive and burdensome licensing process that began two years ago. Nearly 200 entrepreneurs applied for licenses to grow and sell medical marijuana, but a lawsuit brought the process to a standstill for more than a year.

The new licenses to grow marijuana will go to Hillview Med INC., CYOURNJ LLC, and GSCC Management LLC in North Jersey; NJ Nectar Ventures LLC, Noble Valley Harvest Company, Green Medicine NJ LLC, ZY Labs LLC and The NAR Group Inc. in Central Jersey; and Bloom Medicinals of PA LLC and Garden State Releaf, LLC in South Jersey.

Also, licenses to companies that will grow, manufacture and dispense marijuana — called vertically integrated licenses — went to Etain NJ LLC in North Jersey, Altus New Jersey LLC and Holistic NJ LLC in Central Jersey, and Greenhouse Wellness of NJ LLC in South Jersey.

The commission approved all licenses by a vote of four to one. Commissioner Charles Barker was the only one to vote against awarding the licenses, and he did not give a reason why.

When the state released the request for applications, officials planned to license as many as 24 applicants. [Read More @ NJ.com]