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The first of six new medical marijuana dispensaries will open its doors to patients this weekend, becoming the newest operator in the Garden State in a year and a half.

Green Thumb Industries will open its first New Jersey store and its 37th nationwide under the name Rise Paterson. It is the only dispensary of six licensed in late 2018 that has received all of its permits and set an opening date.

The dispensary received its permit to grow marijuana and put its first plants in the ground last week. The company announced Thursday it will begin business by providing patients with marijuana grown at Curaleaf in Bellmawr and purchased wholesale, said Devra Karlebach, GTI New Jersey’s CEO.

The dispensary will host an open house Friday from 10 a.m. to noon, during which no medical marijuana will be on the shelves. That allows members of the public, not just medical marijuana card holders, to attend.

The dispensary will serve patients Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“We’re very pleased to be opening this weekend,” Karlebach told NJ Advance Media. “We’re just thrilled to welcome everyone to Rise Paterson. We look forward to producing and selling high quality branded products in the state. We’re honored to be part of the Paterson community, and we hope to offer patients relief from a variety of conditions.”

GTI’s wholesale agreement with Curaleaf will last for the next four months as they grow and harvest their own plants, Karlebach said. Jeff Brown, the assistant commissioner of the Department of Health who oversees the state’s medical marijuana program, said the department encourages dispensaries to sell their products to others to expand patient access, but few take part.

The Garden State’s medical marijuana program has grown to include more than 63,000 patients. But currently only six dispensaries serve that population, sometimes leading to lines, shortages and long commutes for patients around the state.

“We are incredibly encouraged by the investment GTI has made in Paterson and their commitment to hire Patersonians,” Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh said in a statement. “We believe this is just the tip of the iceberg for jobs and financial benefits for our residents connected to the medical cannabis industry.”

The Health Department licensed six new dispensaries in late 2018, but no others have opened. Officials plan to license as many as 24 more, and sought applications for those over the summer. It is not clear when the awardees will be announced.

Garden State Dispensary, one of the six initial license holders, opened a satellite location in Woodbridge this July. Harmony Dispensary in Secaucus was the last new license holder to open in June 2018.

"The availability of this new ATC will provide residents in the northern part of the state better access to products they need to treat their conditions,” Acting Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said in a statement. “This is another step forward in making New Jersey’s Medicinal Marijuana Program more patient friendly.”

Amanda Hoover can be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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