Editor’s Note: The electronic version of this article was updated following the legislative vote held on June 20, 2019. It contains changes not reflected in the newspaper of June 24, 2019, which had already gone to print. 

On his final day in office on Jan. 18, 2010, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine signed Senate Bill 119 into law. Known as the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act (CUMMA), the new law created New Jersey’s medicinal marijuana program (MMP), permitting the use of medicinal cannabis to treat certain debilitating medical conditions set forth in the provisions of CUMMA. Under the subsequent administration of Governor Chris Christie, six New Jersey non-profit corporate entities were granted permits by the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) to operate alternative treatment centers (ATCs), also known as medicinal marijuana dispensaries. Two dispensaries would be permitted in each region of the State: North, Central and South New Jersey.