Eight years after approving medical cannabis, New Jersey is set to double its number of dispensaries throughout the state in 2019, selecting businesses to apply for licenses to grow and sell marijuana.
As proposed, that will mean a total of 12 dispensaries, which the state refers to as Alternative Treatment Centers (ATCs), two in the northern part of New Jersey, two in the center, and two in southern New Jersey.
That will not be nearly enough, according to a biennial report released by the New Jersey Department of Health in April 2019. Prepared by the department's Division of Medical Marijuana, the report concluded that there should be 50 to 90 additional dispensaries in New Jersey over the next three years.
The report cites the growing popularity of New Jersey's medical marijuana program. Reforms that expanded the medical conditions eligible for treatment with medical marijuana has meant more patients entering the system.
“There needs to be more facilities to meet the growing demand,” Ken Wolski, the executive director of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey, told Weedmaps News. He described the six dispensaries for the entire state as entirely inadequate and said doubling that number is still not enough.
For comparison, he pointed to one street in Trenton, the capital, that has six pharmacies.