New Jersey Medical Marijuana Now Available For A Variety Of Conditions
Doctors in New Jersey are now able to recommend their patients medical marijuana to treat conditions such as anxiety, chronic pain, migraines and Tourette's. Governor Phil Murphy announced on Tuesday that the New Jersey medical marijuana program will be undergoing substantial expansion.
"Patients should be treated as patients, not criminals. We will be guided by science." Murphy said. He also noted that patients will no longer be "failed by a system that been prevented from delivering the compassionate care it promised nearly a decade ago."
New Jersey medical marijuana will see immediate changes, all of which are contained in a 28-page report by Health Commissioner Shereef Elnahal. The report expands the list of medical conditions covered under the state's medical marijuana program based on a recommendation made by an advisory panel last October.
More locations will be available to medical marijuana patients and those seeking to partake in the New Jersey medical marijuana program will have to pay less as well. Registration and renewal fees are projected to be cut from $200 to $100 every two years. Senior citizens and veterans will pay only $20.
Governor Murphy is also abolishing the public registry, which many doctors and physicians found as a deterrent from registering for the New Jersey medical marijuana program. Physicians will still need to give patients a recommendation but more are likely to register now that the stigma attached to recommending medical marijuana is disappearing. There are currently only 536 physicians registered in the state of New Jersey, though there are reportedly 28,000 doctors in the state.
More dispensary locations are expected to open as well. There are currently only 5 dispensaries in the state through additional locations and cultivation sites are expected to open in the wake of the new rules. Murphy has also recommended that legislation change to allow patients to buy up to four ounces instead of two ounces of marijuana per month.
New Jersey joins a variety of east coast states loosening marijuana laws to benefit patients in need. Vermont made headlines earlier this year by legalizing marijuana.