Jon Regis is a black gynecologist who heads Reliance Medical Group, a medical practice with offices throughout South Jersey. His business partner, Ira Trocki, is a Jewish plastic surgeon who once sewed up boxer Mike Tyson’s right eye after a brutal match in Atlantic City. The pair jokingly refers to themselves as "Salt and Pepper" — a play on their racial differences.

But they’re now hoping to use the interracial nature of their business partnership as a selling point in a new venture: creating a Disneyland for adult recreational marijuana on the Jersey Shore.

They own a shuttered Comfort Inn hotel in West Atlantic City where they plan to make it happen.

“This has 810 acres of beachfront property we’re right now in the process of gutting and rehabbing,” Dr. Regis said as he steered his car off from the Black Horse Pike and into the gravelly parking lot of the hotel.

They envision a resort with a marijuana bar where guests can sample various strains of cannabis, an on-site wholesale shop where they can purchase products to take home, and a beach where guests can enjoy a getting high on the white sand, along with views of Atlantic City.

“We’re going to be having our own branding of specific types of marijuana,” Trocki said, “probably named after our kids and our grand kids.”

They are among dozens — possibly hundreds — of entrepreneurs who believe legislators in Trenton could give the go-ahead on legalized recreational marijuana any day now, and are preparing to compete for the limited number of licenses the state will give out.

Multiple recreational marijuana legalization bills have been proposed, but none have made it to the desk of Gov. Phil Murphy, who is perhaps the state’s most high-profile advocate for legalization.

If recreational marijuana does become legal, legislation is expected to cap the number of permits the state issues to individuals or groups to grow, sell or cultivate the drug. As a result, competition is stiff, and everyone is looking to have an edge.

Dr. Regis said they’ve got several advantages, including being long-time community residents, and an idea that will create jobs. But their ace-in-the hole is their diversity.

“You have a son of a chicken farmer who's been practicing medicine in his community for 35 years,” Regis said.   "You have another son of a sergeant who served in the segregated army in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. We have our own space. We're a minority-majority-owned company.”

The pair formed Relevant LLC, a cannabis company, this year. Regis has 51 percent ownership, making it a minority-majority-owned-company.

And diversity is a component Murphy says he wants to see as his administration develops a marijuana market.

“One of the concerns that one could rightfully get when you look at how other states have done this, is the licensees, the licenses, the operators, the owners, is a very non-diverse reality in those states,” Murphy said on WNYC’s Ask the Governor program recently. “We want to see diversity in the purveyor side in the producer and the retailer side in this.”

While there may not be much action coming out of Trenton, behind the scenes, the race is on to grab what is expected to be a limited number of licenses to sell the drug, grow it — or manufacture it into other forms — like edibles, creams or vape pens.

And some applicants are hoping to get a back-door entrance into the recreational industry, by landing a medical marijuana permit.

The state legalized medical marijuana in 2008, and there are currently six dispensaries operating in New Jersey. This month, the Department of Health, which oversees the medical marijuana program, announced it would be accepting applications for up to six month dispensaries.

“There is a working theory that if applicants are able to enter into and participate on the medical side, they would thereby be able to transition into the recreational side,” said Dan McKillop, an attorney who heads the cannabis practice group at the Scarinci Hollenbeck law firm in Lyndhurst. He anticipates the legislation will allow those with medical marijuana licenses to expand into the adult recreational field.

With a limit on licenses, the competition will be intense. Acreage Holdings, a New York-based cannabis company with medical or recreational marijuana operations in 11 states recently announced it was partnering with Compassionate Care, one of the six medical marijuana companies, in preparation for an expansion. That partnership gets them in the New Jersey market.

Beth Stavola, a Red Bank mother of six and the chief operating officer of the Canadian-based cannabis company, MPX Bioceutical Corporation, plans to get into the New Jersey market, too. MPX already has operations in several states, including Arizona and Nevada.

McKillop is not surprised.

“We are seeing a lot of out-of-state actors attempting to come in and establish themselves in New Jersey so they can apply for a license,” he said, “but the majority of calls we are getting are from people and entities that are from New Jersey and attempting to get into the market.”

Dara Servis is the executive director of the New Jersey Cannabis Industry Association, which has about 50 members. The association is involved in shaping legislation that will, in turn, shape the cannabis industry they believe is inevitable in the state.

So far, more than half of the states in the country have legalized medical marijuana, and nine have legalized recreational marijuana. Servis said the competition for a permit to operate in New Jersey comes down to merit.

They all face many hurdles.

A big obstacle is real estate. Marijuana growers and sellers need warehouse space to grow plants, or retail space to sell their products - and that can be expensive. And, many landlords don’t want to lease space to a company involved in the marijuana business because it’s still illegal under federal law. There is also often push-back from the public. In New Jersey, more than two dozen communities have passed resolutions saying they do not want a marijuana business in their neighborhoods. The shops also need to be away from schools.

Another hurdle is money.

Experts agree that getting into the industry costs about a million dollars. That includes hiring a legal team to provide guidance, purchasing land, and putting in the application.

That need for capital was what drew more than 300 people to the New Jersey Cannabis Symposium in Newark back in March. Each paid the $400-dollar-a-ticket price to eat rich food, music and drinks, and hear from experts about how to find investors for their marijuana business.

Pilar Remegio of Jersey City wants to get a medical marijuana license, so she can treat people with chronic conditions naturally.

She said they have a lot to consider.

“You need to own the facility ... or buy a place that has sufficient parking," she said. “You can’t just go into a store front and open the location. You have to be away from schools churches residential places."

Ellie Siegel is an attorney and founder of Longview Strategic, a consulting firm that provides guidance to people seeking to enter the marijuana market.

She said New Jersey’s limit on licenses means the state has high expectations that successful applicants can meet the market’s demand for the product. But, it also means fewer players.

“In a limited market you see ... more of the multi-state players that will be able to come in and secure those licenses,” she said, “because the supply and demand curve is dependent on a proficiency in being able to cultivate and develop products.” But local players like Regis and Trocki, said they can do it, too.