“I don’t have any kids put through college, so I can afford to go to jail for 20 years,” he said.

Based on state rules, Thomas said, the dispensary will sell its products in quarter-ounce increments, with the prices tentatively set at $300 per ounce. Patients the state classified as low-income will receive the drug for free, he said.

“Of that $300 an ounce, $115 goes to the federal government,” he said. “If the government treated it differently, I could drop the price for people.”

After being shut out of sites in Burlington and Camden counties, Thomas said the foundation was on the verge of giving up when its “guardian angel,” real estate developer Leo Schoffer, came forward with the vacant warehouse that was already zoned for agricultural commercial use.

“Without him, we would’ve given up on this,” Thomas said. “Schoffer had done the legwork before we came here; he just reached into his pocket and bought the property for us.”

“This is not, as some people call it, a ‘pot farm,’” Schoffer said. “This is a pharmaceutical industry, and it’s going to provide a service and provide jobs. In the long run, I think other towns will say, ‘Why didn’t we jump on the bandwagon?’ ”