Jersey Roots celebrated its official opening with an outdoor party for the community Saturday, April 20 – a date that has become popular for cannabis-related celebrations.
It is the first retail store selling cannabis and related products in the center of West Milford.
Other retail dispensaries – SoulFlora and Mountain View Farmacy – have opened in Newfoundland, and Elevated Herb is on Route 23 in the southern part of the township.
More dispensaries are expected to open soon. They include Doobiez on Union Valley Road and another in a shopping center in Hewitt.
Statewide, about 130 retail dispensaries are open now, two years after recreational cannabis sales to adults began in New Jersey. Sales last year totaled $800 million.
The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission has received more than 2,500 applications for licenses and has issued more than 1,800 licenses. Five hundred annual licenses have been issued; those businesses require only a final inspection before they can open.
The Township Council has approved 10 retail cannabis licenses in West Milford, although council members have discussed reducing that number to five if some of the original 10 do not succeed.
Rachel Lyons, owner of Jersey Roots, said she delayed the official