A month after the New Jersey Department of Health doubled the amount of Alternative Treatment Centers, it is already planning to expand further.
“Twelve is not enough,” was the blunt assessment by Jeff Brown, assistant health commissioner in charge of the medicinal marijuana program told an audience of more than 125 at the New Jersey Business & Industry Association’s “Cannabis Economy: Are You Ready” event at the National Conference Center in East Windsor on Jan. 23.
New Jersey’s medical marijuana program swelled during Gov. Phil Murphy’s first year in office, doubling its number of patients to more than 39,000.
The number of doctors also grew, from just more than 500 physicians to nearly 900.
But Murphy wants even more doctors to join, so state officials have been hitting the road to convince medical professionals of the benefits of medical marijuana — and dispel what they say are the myths.
Unfortunately, Bill S10 has fallen victim to the acrimony between Gov. Phil Murphy and state Sen. Steve Sweeney, both of whom are Democrats. Will the governor and senate majority leader play nice for once and pass it into law? Their track record suggests not.
Despite Gov. Murphy’s and Sen. Sweeney’s shared leadership with the state party in power, they’ve accomplished very little in the post-Christie era, thanks in large part to their personal clashes. Sen. Sweeney insists on tethering medical cannabis reform to the larger, more complicated adult-use legalization debate.
It was a year that began with promise and potential and one that ends with patience and trepidation.
Although the nascent cannabis industry in New Jersey still awaits legislation to be passed and signed that will allow for an adult-use industry, it was still a momentous year.
Here’s why:
State officials are continuing to review 146 applications that have been submitted by representatives of entities which are seeking authorization to open and operate alternative treatment centers in three regions of New Jersey.
An alternative treatment center sells marijuana that is used by individuals to treat illnesses which have been diagnosed by medical professionals.
Each application that was submitted to state officials consists of about 300 pages, according to the New Jersey Department of Health website.
Recognizing that informed consumers are vital to a healthy marketplace, the New Jersey Department of Health is allowing the six permitted Alternative Treatment Centers (ATCs) to publicly list medical marijuana prices on their websites and social media accounts.
From 146 to six.
That’s the task ahead of Jeff Brown, the assistant commissioner for the Department of Health in charge of the medicinal marijuana program, as his department must review the applications for the new licenses that will be granted for six new alternative treatment centers (ATCs).
It’s not all on him – there will be a committee that will comb through the 146 applications from 105 organizations over the next two months and evaluate the several hundreds of pages of information in each application. The winners are scheduled to be announced in early November.
The competition is already fierce to win one of the six new medicinal marijuana licenses New Jersey will be issuing later this year.
More than 800 people — a mix of lawyers, consultants, and entrepreneurs from as far as Colorado and as close as Pennsylvania — attended a State Health Department meeting in Trenton to learn the ground rules for the application process.