21st Store For Adult Recreational Weed Opens its Doors in New Jersey
Ascend Fort Lee opened its doors Thursday to a steady flow of customers, becoming the 21st store in New Jersey to offer recreational weed and the one located closest to New York.
Among those to venture into the store for its 11 a.m. launch was Bryan Beck, 60, of Edgewater. Beck purchased three rolls of cannabis for $38.02. That total included a state sales tax of $2.32 and a municipal tax of 70 cents on adult weed.
“It was smooth. No problem,” said the sales director for a real estate development company in Manhattan. “There was a little bit of confusion with a glitch on my payment on the (cash register) system but that was expected on the first day. It was fixed within minutes.”
The Fort Lee dispensary received its site approval from the township Planning Board late Monday, the last step the firm needed to begin adult weed sales.
Consumers were given the nod to begin ordering online at letsascend.com on Wednesday, Nov. 16, as Beck said he had done the night before. Pick ups at the Fort Lee dispensary are on appointment-only basis for now, said Caitlin Fleishman, Vice president of Public Affairs for Ascend.
Fleishman said the dispensary could eventually open to the public for walk-in traffic. The Fort Lee dispensary, located in a former Staples store on West Street, began selling medical marijuana on Aug. 12.
After Thursday’s soft launch, an official grand opening is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 19.
Ascend Fort Lee will be the company’s flagship location in New Jersey and its third dispensary to open. The company also has stores in Rochelle Park and Montclair.
Medical marijuana patients will continue to get priority treatment as mandated by the CRC with a dedicated medical express lane, direct access to the front entrance, private consultation rooms, designated parking spots and medical cannabis shopping hours, said Fleishman.
Hours for medical patients will be: Sundays from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Mondays from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Tuesdays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.; and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Located in densely populated Bergen County, Ascend Fort Lee, will be the closest dispensary New Jersey has to New York City.
Fort Lee’s proximity to the New York border is significant as the Empire State is still on track to open the first of its recreational marijuana dispensaries by the end of the year, barring any additional delays. New York is expected to compete with New Jersey for adult weed buyers in the northernmost counties, like Bergen.
Those clients include customers like Beck.
“This is just over the (George Washington) bridge for me,” said Beck on his way to work in Manhattan after picking up his cannabis orders. “I’m literally a few miles from Fort Lee, and New York, where I’m heading to now for work is right there. It’s efficient and convenient for sure.”
Adult recreational weed sales in New Jersey generated $79.7 million in total sales between April 21 and the end of the fiscal year on June 30, according to the state Cannabis Regulatory Commission. The state’s cut was $4.65 million in tax revenue.
Adult cannabis generated $7.7 million in tax revenue during the third quarter of this year, from July 1 to September 30, according to the CRC during a regional public hearing on best uses of revenue from adult weed on Wednesday.
As of today, 21 locations - including the launch in Fort Lee - have sprung up throughout New Jersey that are all owned and operated by Multi-State Operators, or MSOs, defined as national companies with dispensaries in other states that generate significant revenue.
The other 20 locations offering adult weed are: Curaleaf in Bellmawr, Edgewater Park and most recently Bordentown, which began offering it on Nov. 1; Verano, under the Zen Leaf banner, in Elizabeth, Lawrence and Neptune; Acreage, at The Botanist Williamstown and The Botanist Egg Harbor; Green Thumb, which uses the RISE banner, at RISE Bloomfield and RISE Paterson; TerrAscend, under The Apothecarium banner, in Maplewood, Phillipsburg and Lodi; The Cannabist/Columbia Care, in Deptford and Vineland; Garden State Medical Dispensary owned by AYR in Woodbridge, Eatontown and Union; and Ascend in Rochelle Park and Montclair.
Click here for the resto fo the story!