2 former N.J. diners could be converted into cannabis shops

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Two New Jersey cannabis businesses licensed by the state to sell legal weed have won local approval to convert two former diners in South Jersey.

The Courier Post has reported those proposed locations will entail the former Marlton Diner on westbound Route 70 in Evesham and the former Sage Diner on Route 73 in Mount Laurel.

The former Marlton Diner location will be operated by a group known as Enlighten Health and Wellness, and the Sage Diner location is known as NJ Green Care.

The proposed dispensary locations come at a time when the majority of New Jersey municipalities have still decided to opt out of having cannabis businesses altogether, with estimates ranging as high 70%.

Nationally, former diners, warehouses and other buildings that are along highways often serve as locations for cannabis dispensaries due to a mixture of zoning laws that keep many of them away from residential areas.

While a large portion of South Jersey towns have opted out, the available land compared to the more dense northern part of the state means the South Jersey towns that have opted in are ripe for not only dispensaries, but cultivation as well.

The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission, the government agency responsible for regulating cannabis throughout the state, at its monthly March meeting noted that an estimated 57% of the state’s applications were for dispensaries. Another 25% was for cultivation applications.

New Jersey currently has 22 medical and recreational dispensaries and 13 medical-only dispensaries.

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