Deep in the legislation that lawmakers say will fix the perceived mistakes in the medical marijuana law is a nugget of hope for patients who do not qualify for the program yet.
The leader of the Cannabis Regulatory Commission -- the new entity that would be created by the bill to control the medicinal program and the hypothetical legal market-- would decide which conditions qualify for cannabis.
That power now rests with the state Health Commissioner, advised by a panel of medical experts. Until March, only one condition, post traumatic stress disorder, had been added to the narrow list included in the 2010 law.
Gov. Phil Murphy, who took office in January, added two forms of chronic pain, anxiety, Tourette's syndrome and migraines to the list in March. The enrollment has since risen 57 percent to 32,300 participants, according to health department data.