30 New Medical Pot Shops Are Coming To NJ: Here's Where

NEW JERSEY — On Tuesday, New Jersey's Cannabis Regulatory Commission announced it has approved licenses to 30 new medical marijuana dispensaries that will open throughout the state.

The medical pot shops will be spread equally through the state: 10 in North Jersey, 10 in Central Jersey and 10 in South Jersey, said the Cannabis Regulatory Commission, or CRC.

However, the CRC declined to make public the exact towns where the 30 dispensaries will be located, saying it was not yet considered public information.

That is because the towns where the dispensaries seek to open have to approve if they can open there. The Cannabis Regulatory Commission gives out the licenses; individual towns have to approve if the medical pot shops can open there.

In 2019, dozens of people submitted applications to open medical marijuana shops in New Jersey. The Cannabis Regulatory Commission is the government agency that reviews all the applications and decides which applications will be approved.

"The dispensary permit awards are contingent on the applicant adhering to the outlined terms and conditions. Applicants have 20 business days to confirm site control and local approval in writing to get permit endorsement," said Toni-Anne Blake, a spokeswoman for the Cannabis Regulatory Commission. "Additionally, awardees have up to 12 months from the date of the award to become fully permitted. Because these awards are conditional and may be rescinded if an applicant fails to satisfy terms and conditions, the Commission will not provide detailed information about site location."

The CRC said these new shops opening will avoid people having to make long drives to buy medicinal weed.

"We constantly hear from patients that prices are too high and that there are too few dispensaries with too few product options," said CRC Chairwoman Dianna Houenou. "More medicinal dispensaries will mean prices will come down and patients will have more choices for where they go."

Here are the names of the 30 new licensees and where they will be located:

10 medical pot shops opening in North Jersey:

• Community Wellness Center of NJ
• 1st Choice Health and Wellness
• GR Vending NJ LLC
• Yuma Way NJ LLC
• Terrapin in Hoboken (Read more here)
• Oceanfront Holdings LLC
• 11th Colony Cannabis
• New Jersey PharmaCanna LLC
• Nature's Touch Med NJ LLC
• NJ Patients Care LLC

10 medical pot shops opening in Central Jersey:

• Middle Valley Partners LLC
• Woah Flow
• Monmouth Wellness and Healing LLC
• McGraw Holdings New Jersey, Inc.
• Monteverde NJ LLC
• Silver Leaf Wellness LLC
• Garden State Botanicals
• GLCPC LLC
• Sanctuary Medicinals
• Theory Wellness of NJ LLC

10 medical pot shops opening in South Jersey:

• The Law Offices of Juliana Diaz LLC
• Eastern Green Inc dba Starbuds
• Design 710
• NJ Kindness
• Restore NJ LLC
• Organic Remedies NJ LLC
• Honeygrove Corp
• Circe Therapeutics LLC
• Life Compassion Center Dispensary LLC
• Holistic Solutions LLC

Currently, there are 23 medical pot shops in New Jersey, so these new licencees will bring the total up to more than 50 medical pot shops throughout the state, once they all open.

The chair of the commission said supply cannot keep up with New Jersey's demand for medicinal pot: They originally were only going to approve 15 new medical pot shops, but decided to increase it to 30.

“The intent was to award 15 dispensaries, but based on our assessment of patients’ access to medicine in the New Jersey market — considering price and location — we believe that would be inadequate,” said CRC's executive director Jeff Brown. “The number of registered patients go up every month."

There are currently 121,357 patients enrolled in New Jersey's medical marijuana program. The state expects that number to increase in 2022 — despite the fact that recreational marijuana is now legal in New Jersey as well.

"The situation has not changed with the legalization of recreational cannabis; the current alternative treatment centers have not kept pace with patient need," Houenou said previously.

Since Gov. Phil Murphy legalized recreational marijuana at the start of 2021, many New Jersey towns scrambled to pass laws restricting where or even if pot shops can open.

But these medical pot shops "are not subject to any of the restrictions municipalities have adopted for recreational facilities in recent months," said the CRC.

And newly licensed medical pot shops may expand into the recreational business, said the Commission. Legal pot shops can start opening in New Jersey in 2022.

The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission is the regulating agency for New Jersey's booming legal weed industry. In October, the commission approved eight new medical marijuana grow facilities: Five in Central Jersey, three in North Jersey and two in South Jersey. These are strictly facilities where medical marijuana can be grown.

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