EDITOR’S NOTE: The billion-dollar medical marijuana, hemp and legal weed industries offer an economic opportunity unrivaled in modern N.J. history. NJ Cannabis Insider features exclusive, premium content for those interested in getting in on the ground floor or expanding their operation. View a sample issue.

Walking through the doors of the latest dispensary in New Jersey, it’s hard not to compare the Garden State Dispensary’s new location in Union to a mash-up of a waiting room at a doctor’s office and a high-end electronics store.

Clean white walls and an open floor plan. Cubicle wall units featuring a diverse array of methods for smoking and vaporizing cannabis. Tables laid out with iPads showcasing the product menu.

The day before the soft opening on Wednesday, NJ Cannabis Insider and NJ.com received a private tour of the new facility located at the former site of a Bedrooms Unlimited.

But stores with bespoke aesthetics aren’t often located directly across from an adult video store. It’s just one of the many challenges, however, for medical cannabis dispensaries, which, due to zoning laws, are precluded from being within a 1,000 feet of a school zone.

This new location will have the same product availability as the Woodbridge location, but it’s going to have a new feature to improve the patient experience and the back-end workflow — a platform for online ordering.

“Functionally, it’s a little bit different than our Woodbridge facility right now,” said Marla Bowie, the dispensary manager. “We’re actually going to be using Baker, which is an online ordering system. Patients can order online at home or they can do so at the store.”

Bowie, who is also a licensed pharmacist, said this is just the beginning of Garden State Dispensary’s expansion, as its received approvals for a second satellite location in Eatontown.

Products are limited to flower and shake at present, but the dispensary’s extraction laboratory is expected to open before summer’s end, Baker said. Once the extraction lab is set, the dispensary will be able to develop new products for patients such as edibles, oils, vapes and tinctures.

Last year, Gov. Phil Murphy issued an executive order directing the state Department of Health to review the program and evaluate ways to expand it and approve patient access. Among the recommendations adopted by the DOH was the ability of the current dispensaries, also known as alternative treatment centers (ATCs), to obtain waivers to open satellite locations throughout the state. Since then, Murphy has also signed into law the Jake Honig Compassionate Use Medical Cannabis Act, allowing for the state to expand the medical program significantly and ramp up the process for easing patient access.

Expanding the medical cannabis program has been a priority of the Murphy administration, but only six ATCs are currently open to the program’s more than 50,000 patients. Six other groups obtained approval last year to set up ATCs but they have yet to set up shop. Some of those new operators are expected to open later this year.

Justin Zaremba may be reached at jzaremba@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinZarembaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.com’s newsletters.

Are you interested in the N.J. cannabis industry? Subscribe here for exclusive insider information from NJ Cannabis Insider.