MIDDLE TOWNSHIP – Recreational cannabis is coming to the township: The INSA dispensary at Route 9 and Avalon Boulevard cleared its final hurdle to opening when the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission approved the shop’s first annual license at its Dec. 12 meeting.
The commission’s approval means INSA likely will open in early 2025. The store’s opening date has long been a moving target: It was first scheduled for spring 2024, then midsummer, then fall, and then again for winter, sometime before 2024 came to a close.
The store is essentially ready for operation; interior work on the building was completed earlier in 2024. INSA is a Massachusetts-based cannabis group with locations in Connecticut, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida and Massachusetts. Its Middle Township location marks the company’s first foray into New Jersey.
INSA has a history in Middle Township dating to 2021, when the Township Committee voted in support of its proposal for a marijuana-growing facility on Indian Trail Road. The facility never materialized, but INSA remains the only marijuana company to have gotten the backing of the township’s governing body.
The committee announced in August 2023 that it would officially support two cannabis retail operations. But after a change of plans, INSA became the only vendor approved by the township.
In a February 2024 statement, Mayor Christopher Leusner said: “We will keep a close watch on this first dispensary. There are no plans at this time to award additional licenses.”
Vince Conti contributed to this article. To contact Collin Hall, email chall@cmcherald.com or by phone at 609-886-8600, ext. 156.
