NJ Walmart Location Is Growing Pot Resident Tensions Are High

Many municipalities are not allowing the sale of cannabis.  Brick, Bridgewater, and Sea Isle City all have said no.  Then there are cities that tried to ban those businesses like Toms River and Orange, but residents have stepped up in favor of it.

If you live in Readington New Jersey, it’s not the sale of marijuana that is haunting you, but the smell.  What used to be the town's Wal-Mart, has now turned into the town's pot factory.  To be more specific, one of the largest medical marijuana farming companies in the United States has taken up shop in the vacant big box store on Route 22, which became vacant back in 2018.

According to Verona Holdings website, the company…

“…creates artisanal cannabis products unrivaled in quality, consistency and experience. From our award-winning seeds to our signature aesthetic, at Verano there is an obsessive commitment to quality, evident in each of our products, dispensaries and teams.”

 

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Residents of Readington New Jersey do not agree. especially those who live across the street...

A little less than a year ago, the smell of skunk began to fill the air.  To the skilled nose, that scent could also be that of what would be called “kind bud”.

Well, the word ‘kind” was not in the vocabulary of some residents who later found out that smell to be marijuana.

In fact, shocked, alarmed, concerned, and appalled was probably the reaction.

It seems that residents are more concerned about the stench than the realization that a medical marijuana company is operating in their former local Wal-Mart.  A little more than 60 names make up a petition residents signed, asking for a solution to the smell from township officials.

Oddly enough, the property is agriculturally zoned.

A license of operation was approved for Verano earlier this year.

Now I am hungry...