New Jersey’s second medical marijuana dispensary opened Monday in the township of Egg Harbor, roughly five miles west of Atlantic City. The clinic, called Compassionate Care Foundation, grows all of its marijuana in a former warehouse of Trump Casinos.
The move ends a monopoly on the market held by Greenleaf Compassion Center, the only other operating dispensary in the state. Greenleaf didn’t expect to be the sole dispensary for so long, but other groups vying to open centers ran into numerous hurdles applying for a business license, finding a location and receiving final approval from state and local officials.
As a result, Greenleaf was inundated with patients from all over the state and actually had to shut down over the summer to rebuild it inventory.
Compassionate Care Foundation is now ready to capitalize on that pent-up demand. According to its CEO Bill Thomas, the dispensary already has 200 medical appointments booked and 600 registered patients, with half of the business coming from northern New Jersey.
New Jersey legalized marijuana for medical purposes more than three years ago. The state’s law allows patients with eight separate ailments — from HIV/AIDS to inflammatory bowel disease — to obtain medical marijuana cards. Up to six state-licensed dispensaries can open up.
– MMJ Business Daily staff
