Neptune Twp. Legal Weed Store Opens, 2nd In Monmouth County

NEPTUNE, NJ — There is a new addition to the (very short) list of Monmouth County recreational weed shops, with the expansion of Zen Leaf dispensary in Neptune Township Friday.

Zen Leaf is a marijuana dispensary located at 2100 Rt. 66 in Neptune. The store has been open for a while now, but up until Aug. 5, it was only licensed to sell medical marijuana.

Starting Friday, the store started selling recreational weed as well. There was a lavish ribbon cutting ceremony at 7:30 Friday morning; you may have noticed the blimp floating above the store.

Recreational cannabis shoppers are welcome Monday – Sunday, 9 a.m. – 10 p.m. Sundays are still only dedicated to medical cannabis patients.

Zen Leaf Neptune Twp. is the 18th recreational weed store in New Jersey, but only the second in Monmouth County. The other is Garden State Dispensary at 59 Rt. 35 in Eatontown, near the entrance to the old Fort Monmouth property.

While a majority of New Jersey voters approved to legalize recreational marijuana, Republican-leaning Monmouth and Ocean counties have been very hesitant to embrace legal weed: For years, the Eatontown store was the only medical pot dispensary in all of Monmouth and Ocean counties.

However, Matawan, Aberdeen, Eatontown and Long Branch have all approved more marijuana businesses to open.

There are still not legal weed stores in Ocean County, but South Toms River and Lakehurst both approved weed stores to open there.

This is the third Zen Leaf in New Jersey, with the other two in Elizabeth and in Lawrence Twp. The Zen Leaf name is a big business, with the company operating dozens of legal and medical marijuana stores across the nation.

Related: As Weed Goes Legal, 2 Ocean County Towns Wait On State Approvals (April 2022)