Recreational Pot In Manchester: Here's The Closest Place To Buy It

MANCHESTER, NJ — Recreational marijuana sales begin in the state on Thursday for those 21 and older without a medical marijuana card.

While the Manchester Township Council passed an ordinance last year banning all marijuana-related businesses, including cultivation and delivery service, there are recreational dispensaries an hour away.

Dispensaries in Lawrence in Mercer County, under the Zen Leaf banner, and in Egg Harbor Township, under The Botanist banner, will be opening Thursday.

The state's Cannabis Regulatory Commission states that recreational users can purchase up to 1 ounce in a single transaction. That's 1 ounce of dried flower, 1,000 mg of gummies or 5 grams of concentrates like oils or resins. One transaction can include a combination of items.

Thirteen dispensaries so far have been approved to sell adult-use cannabis products. The approved sellers have been given the green light to open at the following locations:

North Jersey

• Apothecarium, 1865 Springfield, Avenue, Maplewood
• Apothecarium, 55 South Main Street, Phillipsburg
• Ascend Wellness, 174 Route 17 North, Rochelle Park
• RISE, 26-48 Bloomfield Avenue, Bloomfield
• RISE, 196 3rd Avenue, #3C, Paterson

Central Jersey

• Zen Leaf, 117 Sprint Street, Elizabeth
• Zen Leaf, 3256 Brunswick Pike, Lawrence Township

South Jersey

• The Botanist, 100 Century Drive, Egg Harbor Township
• The Botanist, 2090 N Blackhorse Pike, Williamstown
• The Cannabist/Columbia Care, 1692 Clements Bridge Road, Deptford – 5 p.m. Open for recreational
• The Cannabist/Columbia Care, 1062 North Delsea Drive, Vineland – 5 p.m. Open for recreational
• Curaleaf, 640 Creek Road, Bellmawr
• Curaleaf, 4237 US-130 South, Edgewater Park

Customers are urged to check the websites of the approved retailers for specific information on hours of operation.

NJ's Cannabis Regulatory Committee Chair Dianna Houenou said that patient access and public safety remains the top priority during this new expansion into the recreational market.

"These approvals were given based on commitments from the ATCs that we would not see adverse effects with expansion," Houenou said. "Expansion into the adult-use market – with a substantial advantageous start ahead of new applicants – is a privilege that must not be taken lightly."

You can read the state's guidelines for safe and responsible marijuana consumption here.

"We encourage everyone to be safe – buy only from licensed dispensaries and start low and go slow. Remember that the laws against impaired driving apply to being high," said Jeff Brown, executive director of the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission, in a statement. "Our guests from neighboring states should remember it is illegal to transport cannabis across state lines."

The approved locations are still required to put patient access policies in place so that registrants in New Jersey's Medicinal Cannabis Program do not have to wait on long lines or risk not getting their medicine.

New Jersey voters approved a ballot question in November 2020 to legalize regulated marijuana sales in the state for those 21 and older.

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