New Jersey Gets Fifth Dispensary

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New Jersey’s medical cannabis program is finally coming into full swing.

The fifth dispensary in the state opened its doors this morning after getting final approval Wednesday from the New Jersey Department of Health.

Breakwater Treatment & Wellness – located in southern New Jersey’s Middlesex County – will see patients by appointment only for now. The dispensary plans to grow enough cannabis to eventually serve up to 3,000 patients, an executive told NJ.com.

It’s the second permit New Jersey has granted in two months, breaking a logjam in dispensary openings.

The sixth and final dispensary, Foundation Harmony in the city of Secaucus, remains in the background-check phase of the licensing process.

After New Jersey legalized medical marijuana in 2010, the state’s health department decided the following year that it would allow two dispensaries each in southern, central and northern New Jersey.

But the program has moved forward in fits and starts, and some businesses and patients have accused the state of purposely dragging its heels when it comes to licensing dispensaries.

The four other operational dispensaries are Greenleaf Compassion Center, Compassionate Care Foundation, Garden State Dispensary and Compassionate Sciences, which received its license last month.

More than 5,500 patients are registered with the state’s MMJ program, and an additional 355 caregivers are authorized to buy cannabis for patients who are homebound or too sick to travel, Health Department spokeswoman Donna Leusner told NJ.com.