EDITOR’S NOTE: NJ Cannabis Insider is hosting an in-person business networking event July 14 at The Asbury in Asbury Park. Tickets are limited.
Six new legal weed stores will open soon in New Jersey, adding to the dozen sites that launched the state’s emerging multi-billion industry last month.
Legal weed sales will begin Wednesday at Curaleaf’s Edgewater Park store at 10 a.m., the company announced. Edgewater Park Township Attorney Tom Coleman on Tuesday confirmed that Curaleaf has temporarily satisfied all zoning and construction issues for its expanded parking lot that stalled the opening for a month and is “free to open the Edgewater Park site for adult recreational sales.”
Consumers will also be able to buy recreational weed within the next few weeks at sites in North Woodbridge, Union, Eatontown (owned by AYR Wellness), Lodi (owned by TerrAscend), and Montclair (owned by Ascend) after the state Cannabis Regulatory Commission approved the new locations at its board meeting Tuesday.
Tuesday’s action will expand the number of legal weed stores to 18.
“We’re thrilled about our approvals in today’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission meeting, including expanded cultivation capacity and conversion of our three dispensaries to adult-use sales,” Rob Vinisko, spokesman for AYR Wellness, said in an email to N.J. Advance Media. “Central Jersey has been under-served during the initial launch of adult-use cannabis, with only two dispensaries serving a population of 3.4 million people up until now.”
“We do not yet have a definitive date just yet for conversion,” added Vinisko. “Dispensaries approved on April 11 officially opened for adult-use on April 21, so we are hopeful for a timeline in that range.”
The panel on Tuesday also approved another 46 conditional licenses for smaller cultivators and manufacturers to grow crops and build out their facilities, adding to the 102 it Ok’d over the past two months. But it could take up to a year for these 148 operations to begin selling weed.
AYR’s plans were first reported by N.J. Advance Media earlier this month. The alternative treatment center last year acquired Garden State Dispensary (GSD) and won approval Tuesday to expand into the legal weed market and a conditional license for a 66,000 square foot cultivation facility in Lakewood.
Julie Winter, AYR’s Vice President for Retail, assured the CRC that the firm was ready to sell adult weed and its new Lakewood cultivation site would help with supply down the road. Winter presented AYR’s plans to ensure access for medical marijuana patients, enough supply of marijuana for both medical and recreational sales and ample parking, among other requirements to expand into legal weed at its Union, Eatontown and North Woodbridge stores.
AYR was the only one of eight alternative treatment centers that was denied by the CRC to expand into the adult recreational market at the commission’s April 11 meeting.
The dozen stores that launched adult sales last month were owned by seven medical dispensaries, also known as alternative treatment centers: Verano (which uses the Zen Leaf banner), Curaleaf, GTI (which uses the RISE banner), Ascend, Columbia Care, TerrAscend and Acreage.
Representatives from Ascend and TerrAscend (which uses The Apothecarium banner) appeared before the CRC on Tuesday again to make their pitch to add stores in Montclair and Lodi, respectively.
“These locations have met the necessary approvals to transition into the adult recreational market,” said CRC Executive Director Jeff Brown. “We are happy to add them.”
The dozen legal weed stores that have been operating for more than a month are in Bellmawr, Bloomfield, Paterson, Phillipsburg, Maplewood, Rochelle Park, Elizabeth, Lawrence, Williamstown, Egg Harbor, Vineland and Deptford.
Brown said it has been a seamless transition into adult recreational weed sales for New Jersey, with $24 million in reported sales and more than 212,000 transactions in the first month.
“This is only the beginning,” said Brown before the panel heard the three ATC presentations to add satellite stores. “There is a lot of opportunity left in the market. It has gone about as smoothly as we had hoped.”
Meanwhile, Curaleaf in Edgewater Park at 4237 US-Route 130 South first had to work out kinks with the township, including doubling the size of its parking lot, before it could sell adult weed. The company’s Chief Executive Officer said it was now ready to put the month delay behind it with tomorrow’s launch. Curaleaf Bellmawr has been selling adult recreational weed since April 20.
“After a successful adult-use launch, we are thrilled to expand our adult-use footprint allowing us to serve even more New Jersey consumers,” said Matt Darin, CEO of Curaleaf, said in a statement. “I’d like to thank the Town of Edgewater Park for their partnership and for so graciously welcoming us into the community. Curaleaf is committed to ensuring patients and consumers receive quality products and service as they embark on their cannabis journey.”
The CRC on Tuesday also approved a second cultivation site for Columbia Care in Vineland, four testing lab applications, as well as a resolution to eliminate the requirement that medical marijuana operations that won licenses in 2019 must operate at least one year as a medical dispensary before applying to sell to the adult recreational market.
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Suzette Parmley may be reached at sparmley@njadvancemedia.com or follow her on Twitter: @SuzParmley
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N.J. legal weed will soon be sold at 6 more stores - NJ.com
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