New Jersey Approved 13 Adult-Use Dispensaries; Only 12 Running

Curaleaf was one of seven businesses approved to sell adult-use cannabis for New Jersey’s expanded retail launch on April 21, but the largest cannabis company in the world (by market cap) still has one of its dispensaries sitting on the sidelines.

While Curaleaf’s Bellmawr medical cannabis dispensary in South Jersey was one of 12 retail facilities that made the transition to adult-use sales last month, the company’s Edgewater Park dispensary remains a medical-only facility despite being approved by the state’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) to serve the new customer base.

After the Bellmawr dispensary began serving adult-use shoppers, Curaleaf officials announced they anticipated their Edgewater Park and Bordentown locations to quickly follow. But the company’s approved Edgewater Park site might take a little longer than expected to expand its operations, NJ.com reported.

Instead of joining its competitors, like Acreage Holdings, Columbia Care, Green Thumb Industries, TerrAscend and Verano, which all opened two adult-use dispensaries on April 21, Curaleaf had a police officer patrol the Edgewater Park site and turn away traffic for most of the day, the news outlet reported.

That’s because Curaleaf has yet to satisfy land-use conditions to build a larger parking lot, drainage basins and additional lights, attorney Tom Coleman, who represents the Edgewater Park Township Land Use Board, told NJ.com.

“Two years ago, they agreed that if they ever decided to sell recreational cannabis, they would come back to the board and get site plan approvals,” Coleman said.

While Curaleaf received approval for its site plan last month, it could take weeks or even months to satisfy all the conditions of the approval, NJ.com reported. In the meantime, more than 750 vehicles with would-be adult-use customers were turned away on April 21, according to the news outlet.

The other 12 dispensaries served more than 1,000 customers each, on average, that day, who spent roughly $153 dollars per transaction, according to opening day sales figures from the CRC.

Overall, the 12 retail sites sold nearly $1.9 million on April 21, or $158,300 per location on average.