A medicinal marijuana facility has received the green light from the state Department of Health (DOH) to begin a growing operation in Woodbridge, Middlesex County.
“It is going to turn an eyesore into an attractive building and it is going to employ 50 people, so we are happy about that,” Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac said of the planned facility, which is slated to occupy the former 6th Avenue Electronics location on Route 1 north.
Compassionate Care Centers of America Foundation Inc. received the permit to launch its alternative treatment center (ATC) after undergoing the DOH’s review process, which includes site inspections, background checks of its corporate officers, and a review of its security operations and cultivation facility, according to DOH spokeswoman Dawn Thomas.
“We are obviously grateful that we got our grow permit,” said Yale Galanter, a Florida attorney and spokesman for Compassionate Care Centers. “The way the state of New Jersey is using this program is very beneficial.”
Galanter provides legal services in a number of the 23 states that have a medicinal marijuana program. He said each state has its own rules and regulations for its program.
“This permit marks another meaningful step in the ongoing progress of the program,” Thomas said. “This is the first alternative treatment center to begin growing product in the central region of the state.”
Three ATCs now have permits to grow product — one each in the north, central and southern regions of the state, according to Thomas.
The other ATCs are in Montclair and Egg Harbor Township. “This will give patients more options to choose from in terms of geographic locations and the number of available strains (of marijuana),” Thomas said.
In New Jersey, 1,200 patients are registered for the medicinal marijuana program, Galanter said.
“Medicinal marijuana has shown to have some very positive effects on various diseases,” the attorney said, citing cancer, glaucoma, bulimia, asthma and others. “Making this available to the public is just phenomenal.”
If all goes as planned, the facility in Woodbridge will open by Nov. 15, according to Galanter. Part of the preparations involve growing the marijuana that will be dispensed to patients.
Along with growing and dispensing marijuana to patients who are registered in the state program, dispensaries supply the paraphernalia necessary to administer the drug.
The dispensed marijuana is packaged in denominations of one-eighth and one-quarter ounces, according to the DOH website. Dosages are determined by a patient’s individual physician, but the maximum permitted amount to be dispensed is 2 ounces in a 30-day period.
Patients receiving medicinal marijuana must show a state-issued identification card indicating their membership in the program, and they must make an appointment at the facility.
All employees of the ATC must undergo fingerprinting and criminal background checks, according to the DOH. Prescribing physicians must be registered in the state’s medicinal marijuana program.
Patients seeking a doctor who participates in the New Jersey program may visit www.state.nj.us/health/medicalmarijuana.