A medical marijuana facility in Phillipsburg is closer to reality.

The New Jersey Department of Health on Thursday announced it has approved a Morris County marijuana-growing operation for TerrAscend, which will provide marijuana for the company’s eventual treatment center in Warren County.

TerrAscend owns The Apothecarium, a posh dispensary chain with storefronts in San Francisco and Las Vegas, and anticipates the Phillipsburg location will open in 2020’s second quarter. It will be the first Apothecarium on the East Coast.

There is still work to be done before completion. The Apothecarium will be in the former Phillipsburg Trust Co. building at 55 S. Main St. but still requires completed drawings from the architect and final approval from the town, said David Cassidy, the general manager of TerrAscend’s New Jersey growing operation.

"We'll get the right type of design in there that will bring a great experience to that part of town,” Cassidy told lehighvalleylive.com.

There are seven dispensaries in New Jersey. Patients who live in Warren County must currently drive an hour or more to fill their medical marijuana prescriptions.

Permits for Phillipsburg's Apothecarium dispensary will be issued after the state can inspect and test TerrAscend's Morris County growing operation.Photo courtesy The Apothecarium

TerrAscend had anticipated opening the Phillipsburg dispensary by the end of 2019 but was delayed by regional leadership changes within the company and the lengthy approvals process. It now is planned to be the first of three in the state for TerrAscend.

The company was among six applications out of nearly 150 that the state health department allowed to proceed in 2018. The original proposal had the marijuana-cultivation facility also located in Phillipsburg, but it was too close to a school and moved to the Morris County township of Boonton.

Following the state’s clearance to start growing, TerrAscend said the 16-acre Boonton facility, still under construction, will begin cultivation immediately. The health department says a permit for the dispensary will be issued after the cultivation site has been inspected and its product tested in state labs.

Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveNovakLVL and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.