A new dispensary and cannabis consumption lounge could open in Atlantic City in the coming months.
The Claridge Hotel was recently approved to house High Rollers Dispensary and cannabis lounge in the former space of its casino, according to The Press of Atlantic City.
The lounge could open as soon as this summer, though an exact date has yet to be determined. It would be the second dispensary and lounge scheduled to open this year.
High Rollers Dispensary will occupy the 10,000-square-foot, two-story space located between Park Place and Indiana Avenue near the boardwalk, the Press reported.
The dispensary section will encompass the space of a former art gallery. The remaining area — which includes a 3,700-square-foot former baccarat lounge — will be renovated for the consumption lounge.
The renovations, including adding a new entrance on Pacific Avenue, are expected to cost about $3.2 million.
“We feel it’s a good fit for the city as a whole to utilize cannabis for tourism,” Jon Cohn, an owner of High Rollers Dispensary, told The Philadelphia Inquirer.
New Jersey’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission recently voted to allow customers to consume marijuana where it is sold in certain licensed locations. New Jersey is the eighth state to do so.
Since The Claridge does not adjoin the boardwalk, the lounge will not violate Atlantic City’s restriction against recreational cannabis on the boardwalk.
Late last year, the state approved the first consumption lounge attached to a dispensary in Atlantic City. Faye Coleman, the owner of Endo at 1015 Pacific Ave. and a stone’s throw from the Hard Rock Hotel and the boardwalk, told NJ Cannabis Insider she has plans to open by late June or early July.
“We got 27 million people a year that actually come through Atlantic City,” she said. “So you’re going to have everyone from the community to those who are absolute patients who are in need to those who are looking to come in town and enjoy themselves and may want to partake in the product.”
New Jersey currently has 22 medical and recreational dispensaries and 13 medical-only dispensaries.
H/T: www.nj.com
