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Trenton now has its first cannabis dispensary.
Theory Wellness, a company based in Massachusetts, on Thursday opened in the state’s capital as medical-only but plans to expand to the recreational adult use market in the coming weeks. The company also has operations in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Ohio.
The entity got the sign-off from a well-known cannabis advocate, Ken Wolski ,who was in charge of a local committee that selected it. Wolski is also executive director of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey.
Wolski said after his research into the company, he felt its leaders are genuine in their commitment. He added that he would keep a close eye on whether they uphold their promises to the City of Trenton when it came to local hiring and community service.
“We can also talk to the organizations they have promised to aid to make sure that these promises come through,” he said.
Theory Wellness has employee-owned operations in Massachusetts, and it’s a model the company plans to bring to New Jersey.
Cannabis is legalized on a state-by-state basis, which means the company would have to get permission from New Jersey regulators to do the same in the Garden State, said Theory Wellness’ Chief Strategy Officer Nick Friedman.
“It’s a long complicated process that we hope to expand and bring everything under the fold,” he said.
Theory Wellness has a history of growing craft cannabis — the weed version of craft beer. He said this is is something the company may be interested in doing for the future — but there are currently no firm plans.
“In Massachusetts we started with a much smaller grow than a lot of our competitors to really focus on our quality and the batch sizes of our cannabis,” he said.
Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora, who attended the opening, noted that he supported cannabis legislation when he was in the state Assembly years ago.
“I think it’s good that this has come full-circle for me,” he said.
Jelani Gibson is a cannabis and politics reporter for NJ.com. He can be reached at jgibson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @jelanigibson1 and on LinkedIn.