Breakwater Treatment and Wellness Center, the second medical marijuana dispensary to debut in New Jersey this month, opened Thursday with a slate of 20 patients and a mission, its operators said, to sell the least expensive and best quality cannabis.
CRANBURY -- Breakwater Treatment and Wellness Center, the second medical marijuana dispensary to debut in New Jersey this month, opened Thursday with a slate of 20 patients and a mission to sell the least expensive and best quality cannabis, its operators said.
Dispensary manager Margie Diaz said the patients will be charged $115 for a quarter-ounce and $58 for one-eighth of an ounce of marijuana including sales tax. People receiving government assistance and veterans will get a 7 percent discount, she said.
Breakwater selected its initial four strains based on the needs of patients and plant's reputation for symptom relief, Diaz said. The strain called Blueberry relieves pain and muscle spasms, she said, "which will definitely help MS patients," one of the conditions that qualifies people for the program.
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"We want the patients to be able to get their medicine," said Alex Zaleski, one of Breakwater's founders.
With five of six designated dispensaries open and 5,540 patients registered, the state's program is starting to move beyond the start-up phase, said Jay Lassiter of Cherry Hill, a registered patient who campaigned for the law's passage in 2010. The state awarded contracts to six nonprofits to be the designated growers in 2011.
"After six years of agonizingly slow, halting progress, New Jersey's program finally seems to have gathered some stream," Lassiter said. "The program really seems over-regulated and remains cost prohibitive for many patients, but progress is progress. For users of medical marijuana, the glass is a little less empty today than yesterday."
On Oct. 5, Compassionate Sciences Alternative Treatment Center opened about 40 miles south in Bellmawr. It was the first dispensary opening since Garden State Dispensary debuted in December 2013.
A Star-Ledger analysis of the medical marijuana programs in the nation found the most expensive marijuana is in New Jersey.
Breakwater -- so named because the operators want it to be "a safe harbor" for patients -- is located in an office and industrial center off South River Road. The retail section of the 21,000-square-foot space is deep sea blue and white, with illuminated glass-enclosed display cases and stylish chalkboards on the walls listing the strain by name and a breakdown of its chemical profile.
Alex Zaleski, Andrew's father, said it took 18 months to find a community willing to host them. "Cranbury was very welcoming," he said. And the state Health Department "was professional and nice and tried to help us when they could."
Breakwater employs a team of about 35 full-time and part-time employees spread throughout the retail and growing facility, said operations manager Andrew Zaleski. In the minutes leading up to the opening, he pointed out a few of the details that makes this facility special: the marijuana is stored and sold in blue-tinted jars to keep out ultraviolet light. Every plant is hand-trimmed, and grown hydroponically, or in water, he said.
Numerous 1,500-gallon containers in the filtration room contain "a special blend of nutrients the plants need at a particular time," Andrew Zaleski said. The development of the site "took so long because we wanted to do this on a large scale, so we can expand at an appropriate rate to meet the need."
Breakwater will be able to serve as many as 3,000 patients, Alex Zaleski said.
Medical marijuana and patient activists envisioned a much larger program when the law was passed, and most remain frustrated that the state has not expanded beyond the narrow list of qualifying conditions contained in the law. Until more conditions, such as post traumatic stress disorder are added, the program is destined to remain small, they said.
"The Department of Health was empowered to add qualifying conditions at any time by the legislation, but they have not even begun the process to do so," said Ken Wolski, a founder of the Coaltiion for Medical Marijuana of New Jersey, a patients' advocacy and educational group. "The process that they have established is so difficult to navigate that I expect no conditions to be added in the near future."
The health department is reviewing candidates to sit on an advisory committee to recommend additional medical conditions to qualify for medical marijuana, health department spokeswoman Donna Leusner said.
The other dispensaries are Greenleaf Compassion Center of Montclair, Compassionate Care Foundation of Egg Harbor, Garden State Dispensary of Woodbridge, and Compassionate Sciences, Bellmawr.
Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.