New Jersey drastically expands access to medical cannabis

The state of New Jersey voted on July 2 to allow more patients access to medical cannabis. The law, signed by Democratic Governor Phil Murphy, takes effect immediately. 43 new medical conditions, currently limited to epilepsy, glaucoma, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), side effects of AIDS treatments, multiple sclerosis, terminal illnesses and Crohn's disease, can now be treated with cannabis, including chronic pain, migraines and anxiety.

The law will also reduce the number of medical visits necessary for the prescription of therapeutic cannabis from four per year to one per year, and to increase doses, particularly for terminally ill patients, for whom there will be no imposed limit.

Existing dispensaries will be allowed to open additional facilities, and licenses will be granted to new companies to facilitate patient access. Visit retirement homes and hospices will be able to become active intermediaries between their patients and dispensaries, and out-of-state medical cannabis consumers will be able to obtain their prescriptions from New Jersey dispensaries for up to 6 months after their arrival. Municipalities will be allowed to reduce dispensary taxes. The law will also grant at least 15% sales licenses to ethnic and gender minorities, people with disabilities and war veterans.

Since Murphy took office in January 2019, 30,000 patients were added at 18,500 medical cannabis users already pre-existing.

This law to facilitate patient access to therapeutic cannabis comes on the heels of the failure of legalization of recreational cannabis in March 2019, which was one of the campaign objectives of Governor Murphy. The law is named after Jake Honig, a 7-year-old boy who died of brain cancer in January 2018. He used therapeutic cannabis to relieve his pain, but the doses allowed by the state forced his parents to use it sparingly. Since his death, they had been campaigning for easier access for the terminally ill.