CCF argues in its brief that the state Department of Health has an obligation to spread the dispensaries throughout the state, under both the state law that legalized medical marijuana and its own prior policies.
“It’s an access issue, not a competition issue,” Chairman of the Board David Knowlton said. “There is no dispensary in Salem, Gloucester, (Burlington) or Cape May counties, so the opportunity to spread these out is right there. Yet they put two within spitting distance. It’s inappropriate.”
MPX New Jersey said in a recent news release it will open the dispensary, called Be., in the first quarter of 2020. Earlier this month, the state Department of Health awarded MPX a permit to cultivate medical marijuana at the company’s Pleasantville facility on Washington Avenue, in a former Press of Atlantic City building.
MPX New Jersey is owned by iAnthus Capital Holdings Inc., of New York City. No one from iAnthus could be immediately reached for comment.