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Garden State Dispensary of Woodbridge has received a health department permit to open a new medical marijuana retail shop in Union Township, and anticipates opening for business as soon as Wednesday, officials confirmed Friday.

Assistant state Health Commissioner Jeff Brown, who oversees the state’s medical marijuana program, told NJ Advance Media his office has delivered the permit allowing the U.S. Route 22 East satellite dispensary to open in Union County.

“Everything is good on our end,” Brown said.

Aaron Epstein, general manager for Garden State, confirmed the second retail location is expected to open “imminently." The dispensary’s board of directors is tentatively looking at a Wednesday grand opening, he said.

Garden State, which opened five years ago in an old electronic big-box store on U.S. Highway Route 1 north, would be the first of the six original medicinal marijuana dispensaries to open a second retail location.

With 50,000 patients, the demand for cannabis flower, lozenges and other products has been intense. Frustrated patients frequently drive for hours once a month to buy the strain that addresses their symptoms. Opening addition dispensaries has been a priority for Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration.

Garden State Dispensary also has won early approvals for a satellite location in Eatontown.

Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.