TRENTON – The New Jersey Department of Health has received 146 applications from 106 organizations to set up medical marijuana dispensaries throughout the state, the governor’s office announced Wednesday.
Fifty applicants applied to operate dispensaries in North Jersey, 45 in Central Jersey, and 45 in South Jersey.
The Department on Health on July 16 requested applications for up to six new medical marijuana dispensaries. There are currently six dispensaries operating in the state in Egg Harbor Township, Montclair, Woodbridge, Cranbury, Secaucus, and Bellmawr.
“By expanding Alternative Treatment Center locations in New Jersey, we are putting patients first and ensuring more convenient access to medical marijuana,” Governor Phil Murphy said. “This is another step forward in removing barriers put in place by the previous administration and creating a more consumer-friendly program.”
Approved applicants will be notified once the review is complete. Those applications won’t be made public until the awards have been announced.
“Program participation has surpassed 30,000 individuals as a result of reforms already made, and we expect that number to keep growing,” New Jersey Health Commissioner Dr. Shereef Elnahal said. “We need more Alternative Treatment Centers to keep pace with the demand for a therapy that has been unjustly restricted for so long.”
The state will open up additional opportunities to apply to build cultivating, manufacturing, and dispensing sites in the future.
For more information on New Jersey’s Medicinal Marijuana Program, visit nj.gov/health/medicalmarijuana/index.shtml.
