CLAYTON OFFICIALS TO DISCUSS MEDICAL MARIJUANA GROW FACILITY
CLAYTON OFFICIALS TO DISCUSS MEDICAL MARIJUANA GROW FACILITY
By Cindy Merckx
Clayton Council members will meet on Thursday, September 13that 7 pm at the Clayton High School Performing Arts Auditorium where there will be a special public presentation by GTI, Green Thumb Industries, who has applied to the New Jersey Department of Health for a Medical Marijuana Program permit.
GTI has identified a location in the Cenco Blvd Industrial Park, located off of Academy Street in Clayton to construct a 50,000 square foot cultivation, processing and distribution facility.
The Sentinel of Gloucester County newspaper has requested from the Borough of Clayton all correspondence relating to the matter by the Open Public Record Act. According to a letter dated 8/9/2018, from Clayton Mayor Thomas Bianco and Council, to the NJ Department of Health Selection Committee in Trenton, GTI has selected a property located in the Clayton Industrial Park and must now meet all the application criteria with the State Department of Health to obtain the appropriate permits required.
The Mayor’s letter to health officials states that the facility would be in a proper zoning district that allows such use, and that officials support and encourage the project as GTI employs local employees with a preference for veterans.
There is also a letter of support written 8/24/18 to the NJ Department of Health Medical Marijuana Program Permit Selection Committee in Trenton by Clayton Chief of Police Andrew Davis.
Chief Davis states in the letter that he supports the Mayor and Council in theirefforts to support GTI to obtain permits for a cultivation and processing center for medical marijuana to be built in Clayton. Davis stated that he visited an existing GTI cultivation facility in Danville, Pennsylvania to observe the companies security procedures. He states: “Several of the security features that were present were adopted from or were equal to a modern prison facility, often using double or triple layers of protection for the facility. I was impressed by the company’s transparency, offering live feed to the facility’s surveillance cameras to the police department. As impressive as the facility was in Danville, the proposed facility in Clayton would be built from the ground up. The company welcomed input and suggestions from my office.”
Chief Davis stated in his letter that he also met with the Danville Police Chiefwho said that the Company (GTI) has been a good neighbor and there has not been any burden on the police department.
“I believe GTI will provide needed employment opportunities in Clayton,” stated Chief Davis in his letter. “I see this cultivation facility as a legal business, under New Jersey law, wanting to establish a relationship with the Borough of Clayton.”
In July, the state announced that it plans to add six more dispensaries (two each in the north, central and southern parts of the state) An additional 10,000 new patients qualified for the medicinal marijuana program bringing the total to over 25,000 registered patients. There is a need to expand the number of businesses who are growing the product in order to serve these added patients as there is a major supply issue.
There are presently only six medical marijuana dispensaries in New Jersey that are located in Cranbury, Egg Harbor, Bellmawr, Woodbridge, Montclair and Secaucus. Before a company is approved there are several requirements they have to meet including a $20,000 application fee and submitting their personal and business financial history. The company has to show that they can meet the demand for different types of products, plus provide patient and employee education and counseling. The company is also required to have written approval from the municipality and provide proof that they have a location that is planned and paid for.
For thousands of patients, marijuana has brought them relief when other medications failed. To become a registered patient with the Medicinal Marijuana Program (MMP), you must be diagnosed with a debilitating medical condition by a physician. Some of the approved medical conditions include: Chronic pain, migraine, anxiety, Tourette’s Syndrome, Multiple sclerosis, Cancer, Terminal cancer, Muscular Dystrophy, Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Crohn’s), Seizure disorder (Epilepsy), Glaucoma, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.