New Jersey: Medical Marijuana Dispensary May Open Soon In Town

Jacob Redmond

Well-Known Member
A second medical marijuana dispensary is expected to open in South Jersey next month, now that the state Department of Health has issued a permit to Compassionate Sciences Inc. allowing it to begin operations at a Bellmawr site.

"We anticipate opening the first week of October, once we get our product harvested and lab-tested by the state and approved for distribution," Compassionate Sciences spokesman Andrei Bogolubov said Monday after the nonprofit received the approval.

The company is leasing an 18,000-square-foot former T-shirt factory in an industrial park in the Camden County community, not far from the Atlantic City Expressway. At full capacity, the dispensary anticipates, it can accommodate 3,000 patients a year.

South Jersey's first dispensary, operated by the Compassionate Care Foundation, opened in October 2013 in a former casino warehouse in Egg Harbor Township, Atlantic County.

After the state legalized medical marijuana in 2010, the Health Department issued preliminary permits to six dispensary operators across the state, two per region, including South Jersey. So far, only three dispensaries have opened.

The Health Department said in a news release that it issued the Bellmawr dispensary its operating license after a final inspection of its facility. The dispensary operator received a permit to begin cultivating marijuana plants in June.

More than 5,500 patients and caregivers have registered with the state's Medicinal Marijuana Program and are free to choose a dispensary after notifying the state. Patients may buy up to two ounces of cannabis a month if they have been diagnosed with one of a dozen qualifying diseases or conditions, including terminal cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, and Crohn's disease. They also must obtain approval from one of the state's 350 physicians who have enrolled in the program.

Earlier this year, the operator of Compassionate Sciences had also applied for a dispensary license in New York. Bogolubov said the operator was not selected but now is applying to open a dispensary in Connecticut, and is looking at other opportunities as more states legalize medical marijuana.

Bogolubov said that the nonprofit "is thrilled" to get its operating license in New Jersey, adding: "We look forward to opening our doors and providing the best medicine and service we can to our patients."

The other two dispensaries in the state are Greenleaf Compassion Center of Montclair and the Garden State Dispensary of Woodbridge. Breakwater, in Cranbury, was granted a permit to grow marijuana last November but has yet to open.

15729.jpg


News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Bellmawr medical marijuana dispensary may open soon
Author: Jan Hefler
Contact: Email Author
Photo Credit: Tomas Bravo/Reuters
Website: Philadelphia local news, sports, jobs, cars, homes - Philly.com
 
Back
Top Bottom