Atlantic City Cannabis Green Zone

A flood of planned new cannabis businesses may slow to a trickle, at least for now, while multiple proposals work their way through the state approval process.

The city has plans to become a cannabis capital along the East Coast, hoping the new industry can join the beaches and gaming as a draw for visitors and a source of jobs, revenue and economic development.

But at a recent meeting of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, at which multiple cannabis-related applications were up for approval, some members began to ask when enough would be enough.

Early indications look promising, with multiple potential cannabis businesses seeking state licenses to open in the city and more on the way. About $35 million in new investment is expected as part of two large-scale cannabis businesses in town, and MPX NJ, which became the city’s first business open to the recreational cannabis market on New York Avenue on April 20, is building a new and bigger structure right behind the current location.

Consumption lounges are already planned in Atlantic City as well as in Elizabeth, Trenton, and Jersey City, the news site reported.

In Atlantic City specifically, the city designated a new “green zone” for cannabis companies to set up shop in and has not capped any license types. One city official told the news site he’d like to see a consumption lounge attached to every legal dispensary.

Agri-Kind, a Pennsylvania-based cannabis cultivator and dispenser, is behind the High Rollers Dispensary.

Atlantic City Weed Zone

New Jersey voters legalized recreational marijuana during a 2020 referendum. Recreational cannabis dispensaries are open across the Garden State, but only one has opened near Atlantic City — The Botanist in Egg Harbor Township.

Along with The Botanist, two medicinal-only dispensaries are open in Atlantic City proper — another Botanist location on the Boardwalk and another called MPX NJ along New York Ave.

Atlantic City will be the future site of a state-of-the-art marijuana cultivation facility, according to a Thursday announcement from Vantage Commercial, which orchestrated the deal.

The addition of a cannabis cultivation facility run by Agri-Kind is expected to bring hundreds of jobs to the community and will support the growth of the cannabis retail businesses in the region.

Left out of the initial wave of recreational cannabis, this casino town by the ocean has established a “Green Zone,” to attract cannabis business to its under-performing business district. It passed a planning board, the state’s Casino Reinvestment Development Authority and, Wednesday night, the full City Council.

Here’s what to know:

It’s basically the entire inner core of the city