Freehold Borough officials have given local approval to what could eventually be one of three medical marijuana dispensaries in a county that doesn’t have one.

The Borough Council voted 6-0 Monday night approving a resolution that would allow Cherry Hill-based Garden State Botanicals to open a dispensary in a warehouse on Throckmorton Street, Borough Clerk Traci DiBenedetto said.

An endorsement of the dispensary by the borough’s ruling body is required under the multi-tiered approval process for dispensaries, which also requires approval by the state Department of Health, the agency that oversees the state’s medical marijuana program.

“Freehold supports the expansion of New Jersey’s Medical Marijuana Program in order to meet the needs of qualified patients who use medical marijuana to alleviate suffering from certain medical conditions,” the resolution states.

DiBenedetto said the council will change the zoning surrounding the Throckmorton Street site to allow for a dispensary.

The health department is now weighing the Freehold application, and the council vote on Monday came two days before an Aug. 21 state deadline for local endorsement of the Garden State Botanicals application, DiBenedetto said.

There are seven medical marijuana dispensaries in New Jersey, in Egg Harbor, Montclair, Woodbridge, Union, Cranbury, Secaucus and Bellmawr. They serve about 52,000 patients suffering from chronic pain, loss of appetite due to cancer treatment, and other ailments, after the state’s medical marijuana law was signed by outgoing Gov. Jon Corzine in January 2010.

But there are no dispensaries in Monmouth or neighboring Ocean counties, where many residents and elected officials in the conservative region have been resistant to legalizing cannabis even for medical use.

That said, Garden State Botanicals’ Freehold application is now one of three proposals for Monmouth dispensaries all at various stages of the approval process.

The other two are an Eatontown satellite location of the existing Garden State Dispensary in Woodbridge, in Middlesex County, and another in a still-undisclosed location in Monmouth proposed by Breakwater Treatment and Wellness, which runs an existing dispensary in Cranbury, also in Middlesex.

The Monmouth/Ocean county area has been called the epicenter of the state’s opioid abuse crisis. So, lending particular significance to Monday night’s approval following after an announcement by the state in May that “opioid use disorder” had been added to the list of conditions legally treatable with medical marijuana, along with PTSD, migraine headaches and others. The additions to the list was in response to an executive order by Gov. Phil Murphy that the department expand access to the drug.

Garden State Botanicals was among the latest round of applicants for state permits to operate dispensaries, with the deadline set for Wednesday. The state is also accepting applications for cultivation permits to grow medical marijuana, as well as what it calls “vertically integrated permits,” for businesses seeking both to grow and sell their product, Donna Leusner, a spokeswoman for the health department, said in an email. Those applications are due Thursday.

The latest round of applications will yield up to 24 new permits, including a maximum of 15 for dispensaries, five for cultivation, and four for vertically integrated businesses, allocated roughly equally in the north, central and southern regions of the state, Leusner said.

It was unclear just when Garden State Botanicals was hoping to open its Freehold dispensary, or when the state might issue a ruling on its application or others from the latest round. Garden State could not be reached, and Leusner said the approval period would depend on the number of applications the state receives.

Freehold Borough Administrator Joe Bellina said that if Garden State Botanicals is granted a permit by the state, it would still need to appear before the borough planning board for site plan approval.

Officials said that Monday’s meeting, led by Council President Kevin Kane, included discussion of the benefits medical marijuana could offer the area’s opioid abusers, as well as those in pain, losing weight, or otherwise afflicted. A handful of people attending the meeting addressed the dispensary issue, some in favor, some against, officials said.

Not in attendance Monday were an unusual pair of dispensary proponents who had addressed the council during a meeting in June. In a performance captured on video by the Asbury Park Press, one of the two played a guitar and sang the praises of marijuana while dressed as a giant bong — a cylindrical water pipe used for smoking pot.

DiBenedetto, who witnessed the performance, said she couldn’t say what influence the June performance might have had on council members in advance of Monday’s unanimous approval. But she said the music and costume did make for memorable input compared to typical public comment periods.

“Very,” she said. “Very, very.”

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect the correct number of dispensaries.

Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. 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.