Medical Cannabis Dispensary Now Open In Freehold Is Locally Owned

FREEHOLD, NJ — The grand opening of NJ Leaf medical cannabis dispensary is this Wednesday, March 15, at 11 a.m., offering another Monmouth County location for the purchase of medical marijuana.

NJ Leaf is a medical dispensary located at 546 Park Ave. in the borough and is locally owned.

The event will be attended by Mayor Kevin Kane and State Sen. Vin Gopal. There is additional event parking at CKO Kickboxing, 536 Park Ave., the facility says.

NJ Leaf, along with borough and other officials, broke ground in August 2022 on the company's site.

The new medical dispensary is expected to provide a new tax ratable, new jobs and a significant new revenue source to the borough once they are operating, borough officials said.

The Planning Board unanimously approved the company's application last February and a majority of the Borough Council authorized the developer's agreement in June 2022.

Raj Pipalia and Ritesh Shah are among the partners in NJ Leaf.

Shah, a pharmacist, testified at the Planning Board meeting that he has researched the medical benefits of cannabis: "I have a family member that needs and has inspired me; there is controversy, how it is classified and regulated, but medical use, it is needed," he said, according to the minutes.

Hours for NJ Leaf are Mondays to Fridays, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sundays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., according to the company website.

To contact the facility, call 732-204-7172 or email info@njleaf.com.

A spokesperson for the company said the business is for medical cannabis currently but expects to transition to recreational sales as well.

NJ Leaf joins two other cannabis sellers in the county, Ayr (formerly Garden State) in Eatontown and Zen Leaf in Neptune. Those companies offer both recreational and medical cannabis.

The 3,375 square-foot dispensary is a permitted use in the B2B zone and met proximity requirements, such as being more than 250 feet to a child care facility (the closest is a mile away) and 500 feet away from school, university or place of higher leaning (the closest is half mile) and the project complies with setbacks and coverage requirements.

Although it has 27 rather than 34 parking spaces, parking was considered adequate, according to the Planning Board minutes.