Bell Pharmacy

Anthony V. Minniti believes that in October he will open a first anywhere: a cannabis dispensary under the same roof as a pharmacy.

Minniti, who since 1997 has operated the Bell Rexall Pharmacy at Haddon and Kaighn avenues in Camden, on Friday, August 18, had his recreational marijuana license approved at a meeting of the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission.

When Bell's doors first opened at the corner of Kaighn and Haddon avenues, Albert Einstein and Edwin Hubble were researchers at California Institute of Technology; Bela Lugosi was starring in the first Dracula movie; construction of the Empire State Building had just ended and had just begun on Rockefeller Center; "The Star-Spangled Banner" was adopted as the U.S. national anthem; and marijuana had yet to be federally banned, so pharmacies like Bell sold cannabis products.

Officials in Camden have given approval for the city’s first marijuana dispensary, run by a business that’s been around for nearly 100 years.

“It’s an exciting and extremely humbling experience,” said Bell Pharmacy owner Tony Minniti.

Nowhere else in the country does a pharmacy act as a dispensary for medical and recreational cannabis.

Minniti says they are currently renovating the second floor to create the space for a dispensary, which includes a new $85,000 elevator. Minniti says the business is coming full circle to its history.

Bell Pharmacy, located at 1201 Haddon Avenue in Camden County, N.J., is waiting to be approved for an annual cannabis license, KYW reported. Because the store has two legal addresses, it makes it easier to operate both businesses.

This would be the first cannabis dispensary in the city of Camden. Bell has operated since 1931 and is renovating its second floor to add the marijuana dispensary. The project is a full circle moment for a business that sold weed to customers during the 30s before alcohol prohibition in the United States.