Despite the opposition, the commission did approve a second marijuana cultivation site in Lafayette for Harmony Foundation of New Jersey, which currently grows and dispenses medical cannabis in Secaucus. The company also has planned to open two additional dispensaries in Hoboken and Jersey City, which could draw customers from New York.
South Brunswick has prohibited all classes of cannabis establishments from operating in the township, according to a new ordinance passed by the council. The new restriction received unanimous approval from the council, some of which voted to legalize recreational cannabis in the 2020 election.
The ordinance prohibits cannabis cultivation, manufacturing, whole sales, distribution, retail sales and delivery. South Brunswick Township will allow cannabis testing facilities in the community as defined by the state.
At a time when many nearby towns are outright banning pot shops from opening, Woodbridge Twp. is taking a more nuanced approach: Allowing the existing medical marijuana business that's been open for several years on Rt. 1 to also sell marijuana for recreational use.
However, that will be the only store in town that will be allowed to sell recreational pot, said Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac.
The township plans to address recreational marijuana with a two-pronged approach by limiting sales to the existing medical marijuana dispensary on Route 1 and limiting manufacturing, wholesalers and distributors to the township’s light and heavy industrial zones.
"The medical marijuana store is automatically approved to sell recreational marijuana, and that's OK by us, but we are limiting it to that," Mayor John E. McCormac said while adding the township had no discretion over the dispensary.
The city of South Amboy is only the latest Central Jersey town to ban any marijuana shop or weed business from opening in town, including medical marijuana facilities.
At their Wednesday night meeting, the South Amboy city Council unanimously voted to pass an ordinance that bans any marijuana-related business from opening anywhere within town limits. This includes medical marijuana, grow shops, cafes, retail shops or marijuana-delivery businesses.
New Facility is 12th Dispensary Statewide, First in Monmouth County
The New Jersey Department of Health today announced it has issued a permit to Garden State Dispensary to open a satellite dispensary in Eatontown. The Eatontown dispensary is the 12th facility dispensing marijuana for medical use in New Jersey and the first in Monmouth County.
The Eatontown location is set to open Thursday, September 17. Monmouth County has 7,341 patients in the program, the 4th largest enrollment by county. Garden State Dispensary currently has two sites in Woodbridge and Union.
Pending approval from the state department of health, Freehold has taken the first step toward having the first medical marijuana dispensary in Monmouth County.
Garden State Botanicals, a company looking to open a medical marijuana facility on Throckmorton street in Freehold, the Monmouth County seat, received approval of its application at a city council meeting on Monday. Likewise, Garden State Dispensary, headquartered in Woodbridge, received approval from the Department of Health to open a satellite medical marijuana dispensary in Eatontown.
Two Monmouth County communities have moved forward on plans this summer to support a dispensary within their borders if licensed by New Jersey's medical marijuana program.
The Freehold Borough Council voted unanimously on Aug. 19 to support a facility proposed by Garden State Botanicals at a site on Throckmorton Street. The plan still needs approval from the state Department of Health.
Garden State Dispensary of Woodbridge has received a health department permit to open a new medical marijuana retail shop in Union Township, and anticipates opening for business as soon as Wednesday, officials confirmed Friday.
Assistant state Health Commissioner Jeff Brown, who oversees the state’s medical marijuana program, told NJ Advance Media his office has delivered the permit allowing the U.S. Route 22 East satellite dispensary to open in Union County.
“Everything is good on our end,” Brown said.
Harvest Health and Recreation, a vertically integrated cannabis company, announced Tuesday it will acquire CannaPharmacy which owns or operates (through management companies) cannabis licenses in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland and holds a minority interest in a pending licensee in Colombia.
For New Jersey the acquisition includes one of six operational – and 12 awarded by the state – fully vertical licenses, permitting cultivation, retail sales and manufacturing.