A medical marijuana dispensary opened on Springfield Avenue in Maplewood on May 7, expanding the footprint of where residents in the area can legally buy marijuana. The Apothecarium is the dispensary’s second location in New Jersey; the first is in Phillipsburg, with other branches in Pennsylvania, Nevada and California.
“It’s a welcoming town; it’s a very progressive town,” Diana McElroy, the company’s community outreach specialist, said in an interview with the News-Record on May 6. “Most people are pro medical use and adult use. We liked the diversity.”
This time last year legal weed was the big item on the ballot. Now, there are signs the recreational marijuana industry is ready to take off.
A cannabis company called The Apothecarium opened its flagship medical marijuana dispensary Friday in Maplewood with hopes to also serve the adult recreational market once legal weed sales begin.
TerrAscend on Friday announced the grand opening of its second medical cannabis dispensary in New Jersey, a 6,500-square-foot facility in Maplewood.
The Apothecarium Maplewood, at 1865 Springfield Ave., officially opened Friday at noon. Its regular 10 a.m.-7 p.m. hours start Tuesday.
"High. Hello. Welcome," says a sign in the dispensary's lobby.
The Apothecarium Dispensary at 1865 Springfield Avenue had its ribbon cutting on Friday morning. The new medical cannabis dispensary serves as Maplewood’s first and only. The facility offers its own brand of cannabis products (grown at its Boonton, NJ farm) called KindTree along with other brands. Features like a “Bud Bar,” where patients can smell the different types of cannabis flower, and the “Express Pick Up” area, make The Apothecarium a unique dispensary experience for New Jersey.
As a leader in the North American cannabis market, TerrAscend’s expansion into New Jersey has brought much-needed relief to a thinly stretched and rapidly expanding medical cannabis program. With only 11 other Alternative Treatment Centers (ATC) currently serving over 97,500 medical cannabis patients in New Jersey, TerrAscend’s entrance into the state, with a reputation for quality products and operational integrity, is exactly what the Garden State needs right now.
New Jersey officially has more than a dozen medical marijuana dispensaries open, while the state continues to craft legislation to expand to recreational pot sales, too, as approved by state voters this fall.
The Apothecarium Dispensary in Phillipsburg is the first such facility in Warren County and the first New Jersey location for Canadian-based TerrAscend, which also has dispensaries in Pennsylvania, California and Nevada.
The company’s product offerings will include raw flower, pre-rolls, extracted distillate and vaporizable oil, as well as Ilera Healthcare branded tinctures, topicals and medically-blended vapes.
TerrAscend remains focused on the execution of its U.S. expansion strategy. To date, the Company has grown its U.S. presence, both organically and through targeted strategic acquisitions, which include Arise Bioscience, The Apothecarium, Ilera Healthcare, and State Flower. This has enabled TerrAscend to enter new markets and establish a strong foothold. The Company’s U.S expansion strategy is rooted in a commitment to achieving scale and profitability in the select markets where it operates.
Earlier in April, TerrAscend appointed Jason Ackerman as its permanent CEO in addition to his role as Executive Chairman. He had been serving as interim CEO since January 2020. Shortly after, the company announced its intent to move its financial operations from Canada to its U.S. headquarters in New York and hired CPG industry veteran Keith Stauffer as the Company’s CFO. “This management shift was necessary to continue advancing TerrAscend's sizable market share and revenue growth in the U.S. cannabis sector,” said Jason Ackerman.