Long Lines Form Outside New Jersey Marijuana Dispensaries As Recreational Sales Begin

BELLMAWR, N.J. (CBS) -- For the first time, people 21 and older can buy recreational marijuana legally in the Garden State. It's not only a historic day in New Jersey, but it's also a historical day for many of these dispensaries such as Curaleaf as they are now selling recreational marijuana.

Click here to find out everything you need to know about New Jersey's recreational marijuana sales

Long lines formed at the Curaleaf and CBS3 is told that people started lining up outside the store since 2 a.m. The average person says it takes about an hour to get through the line from start to finish.

This is all to say that it's even busier inside.

Budtenders are busy selling flowers. The Curaleaf dispensary has been fulfilling legal cannabis orders for recreational use, or as the industry calls it, "adult sales" since 8 a.m.

"We have more product in our vaults than we ever had," Owner Joe Bayern said.

Bayern is the owner of Curaleaf and says Thursday is a full-circle moment for his dispensary.

"I think it's great that people now have an opportunity to buy high-quality cannabis in a legal format," Bayern said. "It's also creating thousands of jobs in the state of New Jersey and literally hundreds of thousands of dollars of tax revenue."

This was the group's first location that originally serviced medical patients only, but as of Thursday, adults looking for higher options came to the right place.

"Let us come inside the dispensaries, see everything, be a part of the experience," said Amanda Novotny.

Thirteen dispensaries are now open in New Jersey for recreational marijuana sales, including Cannabist in Deptford.

"There are different requirements for adult and medical use," George Denardo, with Columbia Care, said.

CBS3 also toured the facility prior to the green rush.

"Cannabis is not just an adult-use product," Denardo said. "There are medicinal values to it. There are people fighting the opioid crisis, this is another avenue for them."

Back at Curaleaf, it looked like 4/20 was being observed a day late as the line wrapped around the building. Apparently, mary jane is worth the wait.

"It's long overdue," Cory Siegel said. "Clearly, there's a lot of people who partake in smoking weed."

Curaleaf is open until 8 p.m. You must have an ID to get inside and they are expecting to serve 2,500 customers.

CBS3 also found long lines at The Botanist dispensary on the Black Horse Pike. Those who stood in line say they've been waiting for this day for a long time.

CBS3's Wakisha Bailey and Kerri Corrado contributed to this report. 

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