TRENTON, NJ (CBS) – New Jersey has chosen 6 non-profits that will operate Alternative Treatment Centers for the state’s medical marijuana program.

Monday’s announcement by the Department of Health and Senior Services marks another step toward the medical marijuana program becoming a reality.

Director of Legal and Regulatory Compliance, Devon Graf, says two centers will serve South Jersey — in Bellmawr, Camden County, and the other in either Camden or Burlington County, “We will move to get those up and running as soon as possible. At that point they will be growing and hopefully opening for business sometime in late summer-early fall.”

The centers will also monitor the cannabis for quality and potency. 

Coalition for Medical Marijuana Executive Director Ken Wolski, said his group has serious concerns over what he describes as an overly-restrictive compassionate-use medical marijuana law, which limits THC — the main psychoactive component in marijuana — to a maximum of 10%, roughly half the amount allowed by other states.

“It’s kind of funny that the department of health recognizes that marijuana has these medicinal properties, yet they’re arbitrarily limiting the amount of medicine that could be available in the marijuana — and the dosage is already limited to two ounces a month,” Wolski said.

Reported by Molly Daly, KYW Newsradio 1060