State Delays New Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Decision

BRICK, NJ — A Brick Township company that is seeking permission from state and local authorities to open a medical marijuana dispensary will be waiting a bit longer for some answers.

Jersey Shore Therapeutic Health Care filed one of the 146 applications that the state Department of Health received for the six new licenses being made available for alternative treatment centers. The state, when it accepted applications in August, had said it expected to notify applicants by Nov. 1 whether they would receive a license.

However, Dr. Shereef Elnahal, the Health Department commissioner, said in a news release that the state would be delayed in announcing the six new licenses due to the sheer volume of paperwork.

"The department received 146 applications from 103 organizations in response to its request to add up to six additional ATCs — two each in the northern, central and southern part of the state," Elnahal said, explaining the need for additional time. "Each of the reviewers must read more than 40,000 pages of material (each application averages 300 pages). The reviewers are working as quickly as possible, and the Department will announce the successful applicants as soon as the review is complete."

Jersey Shore Therapeutic Health Care is one of 45 applicants for two available licenses in Central Jersey, said Anne Davis, one of the principals of the company, during the first appearance in front of the Brick Township Board of Adjustment.

The zoning board carried the application from 385 Adamston LLC, the company proposing to turn a former bank into Jersey Shore Therapeutic Health Care, to a special meeting set for 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 19.

The hearing was carried after nearly three hours of testimony and questioning by the public on various aspects of the application. Residents in the immediate vicinity have vocally opposed siting the dispensary , which had been a bank for more than 40 years and was attractive to Davis and her partners in part because it has a bank safe on site.

Safety concerns were one of the biggest points of contention, and are expected to be the primary topic when the hearing resumes.

New Jersey currently has six medicinal marijuana dispensaries. Earlier this year, Gov. Phil Murphy enacted several reforms to that made more patients eligible for the medical marijuana program, including lowering registration fees, adding more eligible conditions, and no longer requiring doctors to list their names in a public registry. There are now more than 32,000 patients in the registry, according to the state Department of Health.

In response to the increase in the number of patients, Murphy in July announced the state would accept applications to add six more dispensaries — two in each region of the state, north, central and south — to improve access. Applicants had to submit a business plan, including a five-year budget and revenue projections, and will need to receive approval from the town where they plan to operate. More information on the Medicinal Marijuana Program is available on the state Health Department's website.

Previous coverage:

• Brick Company Hopes To Open Medical Marijuana Dispensary In Town
• Tension Marks Meeting On Proposed Brick Medical Marijuana Site
• Medical Marijuana Dispensary Proposal Before Brick Zoners
• Brick Zoners Continue Medical Marijuana Dispensary Hearing

Click here to get Patch email notifications on this or other local news articles or get Patch breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our new app. Download here. Have a news tip? Email karen.wall@patch.com

Follow us on Facebook. Click here to like our page.

Image via Google Maps