Justice Grown, a company that grows cannibis and sells cannibis products in multiple U.S. states, says it has officially received a permit to cultivate and process medicinal cannabis products from the New Jersey Department of Health.
The permit will allow the Chicago-based company to serve the more than 74,000 patients in the state from its operation in Ewing Township. Justice Grown broke ground on its indoor cultivation facility on North Olden Avenue in Ewing in late 2019.
The facility will be on the site that formerly housed Verizon, according to Ewing Mayor Bert Steinmann.
Upon completion, Justice Grown says the facility will be cGMP compliant and house 34,000 square feet of medical cannabis canopy within the 75,000 square foot location. In its first phase, the cultivation center will immediately begin cultivating medical cannabis flower. The second phase will include the production of manufactured medical cannabis products in a lab.
Later this year, Justice Grown plans to open a dispensary in Ewing, which will be located at 1761 N. Olden Ave. (formerly Sparkling Pools), with 2 additional dispensaries to follow.
“We just did a redevelopment agreement with them for that particular site, because the way the law was written, you had to be in one spot, but then they kind of changed it so that they could have the distribution center in a different location than where they grow,” Steinmann said during an interview in February.
Meanwhile, the company had installed temporary trailers on the Verizon site while work continued on the facility.
“It’s going to take too long to renovate the building, and under state law you have to be in production within six months of getting a license, and their time is almost up,” the mayor said.
Steinmann said he has also been working to ensure that the facility is secure.
“The chief of police and I met with their security people to make sure they’re doing everything that’s being required,” he said. “The grow facility is going to be a 24 hour, seven days a week operation. There’s no public allowed at all at the grow facility… It’s not just for anyone who wants to have a tour. It’s not that type of facility. It’s just for the vendors that have to come in, and the only time there’s truck traffic is when they have to get product to the distribution center.”
Justice Grown says it is committed to working with the New Jersey Department of Health to increase access for patients enrolled in New Jersey’s Medicinal Marijuana Program. Todd Johnson is executive vice president and head of New Jersey operations.
An architectural rendering of the Justice Grown facility under construction in Ewing.,
