VIDEO: New Jersey’s 18th store offering adult legal marijuana to open Friday
Verano Zen Leaf Neptune Township on Route 66 opens Friday and will become New Jersey’s 18th store offering adult legal marijuana.
Verano Zen Leaf Neptune Township on Route 66 opens Friday and will become New Jersey’s 18th store offering adult legal marijuana.
One month into the nascent cannabis industry’s launch, consumers have purchased $24 million in recreational weed, regulators said during a meeting Tuesday where more permits for dispensaries were approved.
Another five medical-only dispensaries will soon be able to start selling adult-use cannabis, joining the 12 dispensaries that started selling recreational weed on April 21. The new locations will be Garden State Dispensaries in Woodbridge, Union, and Eatontown; The Apothecarium in Lodi; and Ascend in Montclair.
The Curaleaf dispensary in Edgewater Park will begin selling recreational marijuana tomorrow.
AYR Wellness, a marijuana company which currently operates three medical-only NJ dispensaries in Union, Eatontown and North Woodbridge, was previously rejected by the Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) for approval to open for recreational use in New Jersey.
Why? Apparently they had problems proving to the CRC that they could meet the demand for both medical and recreational marijuana.
What makes the Township of Ocean (Waretown) unique is the municipality already has a medical marijuana dispensary in the process of setting up shop.
As far back as last summer, authorities revealed that a company named Justice Cannabis Co. planned to provide access to medical marijuana patients in a standalone building. The dispensary will face Route 9 behind the empty building formerly occupied by Ocean First Bank in the Waretown ShopRite Plaza.
Recreational marijuana became legal in New Jersey on April 21; so on April 23, I decided to pay a visit to The Botanist, a dispensary operated through Compassionate Care, LLC.
The Egg Harbor Township site was difficult to find, as there were no signs on the roads close to the location. It’s hidden between warehouses and industrial buildings off Delilah Road near Atlantic City International Airport. Once we pulled into the parking lot, we knew we were at the right place.
New Jersey has decided to jump start its adult-use market by issuing licenses to existing medical cannabis operators, referred to as Alternative Treatment Centers (or ATCs). Earlier this month, the Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) voted to allow seven established ATCs — comprised of well-financed multi-state operators (MSOs) — to begin adult-use cannabis sales at 13 dispensaries around the state.
Legal marijuana for recreational use has been on the market for just over a week in New Jersey, and the sales keep on growing. Some 12,000 people bought on opening day, spending $2 million. We visited two dispensaries, Zen Leaf in Elizabeth and Ascend in Rochelle Park, to see how they’re faring.
But it will likely be weeks, maybe even months, before Curaleaf Edgewater Park will open because it needs a much bigger parking lot, according to the land use attorney and engineer for Edgewater Park Township.
Attorney Tom Coleman, who represents the Edgewater Park Land Use Board, said although the medical dispensary had its municipal approvals memorialized on April 21 by the local board, Curaleaf still needed “to perfect” its site plans in accordance with the township’s conditional approval.
According to the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC), those 13 locations are:
North Jersey:
Central Jersey:
South Jersey:
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