To our community,

Thank you to all the amazing brands, retailers, and judges participating in our first New Jersey Cup. Thousands of you are actively judging 136 entries across 13 categories, and the energy is building as the competition heats up. Judge kits have nearly all been purchased, and judge participation remains strong across the board. Some stores still have Judge Kits available. Check our map for details. Judging closes on 4/20!

The overwhelming response has been positive from almost everyone, with a small number of exceptions. We hear the community and respect legitimate concerns. High Times is connecting directly with the community to provide clarity, hear feedback, and address concerns, and we’ve seen positive results from this so far. If you would like to provide feedback, contact competition@hightimes.com and we will respond as soon as possible.

COMPETITION UPDATES

We appreciate the patience and support from our judges, brands, and retail partners as we’ve worked through these updates.

Here are the current updates on anything competition-related by category:

Solventless Concentrates and Vape Pens Update

Replacements have been secured and have been mostly delivered to retail partners, with remaining deliveries arriving early this week. We are communicating directly with judges and coordinating pickups to ensure all entries are received.

Solvent Concentrates Update

High Times and Sun Extracts have collaborated on a solution to provide additional products to any solvent concentrate judges who did not receive all of their Solvent Contentrate entries. We are communicating directly with judges and coordinating pickups of additional products to them. 

Solvent Vape Pens Update

If your kit is missing a Sun Extracts solvent vape pen entry, let us know and we will replace it with Sun.

Edibles (Non-Gummies) Update

The ButACake Snickerdoodle entry has withdrawn from the competition.

We have spoken directly with this amazing brand and clarified the details of the withdrawal for our judges and community. The ButACake Snickerdoodle by Matha and team at CannPowerment is a shelf-stable product and did not require refrigeration or freezing on the label. Their new packaging has been updated and reflects their usage instructions. However, the brand’s standards for excellence include guidance to stores that the product is best enjoyed within 7 days at room temperature or can be frozen up to 30 days.

Despite these recommendations, competition rules require products to be shelf-stable. As you can imagine, freezing a tote containing nine other entries, including items such as hot sauce, is not viable.

We’ve worked through a positive resolution with the brand, and for any judges who may not be fully satisfied with the entry, we encourage you to reach out to us directly, though all feedback received so far has been positive. We respect the brand’s decision to uphold their quality standards and will be highlighting them as part of the May 1st Cup event.

GENERAL UPDATES

General Support

If you have any issues with a Judge kit, please contact competition@hightimes.com and we will work with you to resolve it.

Cannabis Cup Live Event

New Jersey’s first ever High Times Cannabis Cup Awards Night!
May 1st • Steel Pier • Atlantic City

We will be making first access tickets available for purchase to all judges soon. We will email all judges signed into the judging portal when they go on sale.

Join us for music, rides, and games all night, closing with the High Times Cannabis Cup Awards Ceremony and a special guest performance.

Come see your favorite entries go for the win. We’re looking forward to seeing which brands take home the Cup!

— The High Times Team