Vineland

With Green Township continuing to weigh the future of an ordinance allowing medical marijuana cultivation in the township, the state announced Tuesday the granting of medical marijuana growing permits to three more companies.

Three medical marijuana dispensaries in New Jersey moved closer to opening their doors.

Regulators awarded permits to grow medical marijuana to three more companies, the state health department said Tuesday:

• Columbia Care NJ.
• MPX NJ.
• Verano.

The cultivation licensing round advances a process that began more than a year ago in an effort to stimulate the state’s MMJ industry.

The New Jersey Department of Health this week issued permits to three additional companies to begin growing medical marijuana. This brings the total number of cultivation permits issued as part of the Medical Marijuana Program (MMP)'s awards in December 2018 to five.

These permits were issued after comprehensive reviews including several site inspections, background checks of corporate officers and reviews of security operations and cultivation facilities.

In its lame duck session, the New Jersey state legislature has an important vote regarding whether to allow the question of adult cannabis use on the November 2020 ballot and from what I learned this past week, not only is much of the nation watching, but at least one of our neighboring states may have some hidden hopes that the legislation will fail and no referendum will be allowed.

A medical marijuana pharmacy should open here in mid-December, though representatives for the developer say its locally grown products might not be available for sale until early February 2020.

Columbia Care New Jersey LLC representatives were before the city Planning Board on Wednesday night. The board agreed to support the facility opening with only a temporary certificate of occupancy, although the decision must come from the city construction code official.

Construction is started on converting a former industrial building at 1560 North West Boulevard into a growing facility for medical marijuana that will end up on pharmacy shelves at another Vineland site.

Columbia Care, the owner, received municipal zoning approval for the grow facility in July and then finalized its purchase.

Representatives of Columbia Care were before the city Planning Board on Wednesday night for a public hearing on a plan to renovate a former plumbing business building at 1062 N. Delsea Drive into a dispensary for its products.

Board members unanimously approved the project after a thorough but routine plan review. Two residents with homes near the site spoke during the hearing, raising concerns about traffic impacts and site security.

New Jersey state approval last month for six new medicinal marijuana integrated dispensaries means more access to the drug for patients in need, but not without some controversy for the communities involved.

"Six very strong applicants were selected, including minority-owned and women-owned businesses," Health Commissioner Shereef Elnahal said. "We'll meet with them early next year to refine their timetable for growing product and opening their doors."