Legislation is pending, S 10, to expand the state’s medical cannabis program.
The measure would increase the number of licenses the Department of Health can issue to new providers in order to meet New Jersey’s increased patient demand.
Other provisions of the bill would:
Raise the monthly allowed amount of medical marijuana from 2 ounces to 2.5 ounces in 2019 and three ounces in 2020;
Remove the limit on how much medical cannabis terminally ill patients and hospice patients can receive;
Remove the ban on edible medical marijuana to minors;
Former Speaker of the House John Boehner's cannabis firm is planning to dramatically expand New Jersey's medical marijuana industry, a signal of the country's gradual but steadily growing acceptance of cannabis. Acreage Holdings, a New York-based cannabis firm operating dispensaries as well as cultivation and processing operations in 11 states, has announced a partnership with Compassionate Care Foundation, a south Jersey medical cannabis dispensary, to break ground on a new cultivation facility.
A longtime medical cannabis dispensary in New Jersey has struck a partnership with Acreage Holdings, the multistate marijuana business that last month brought former House Speaker John Boehner onto its board of directors.
According to NJ.com, Compassionate Care Foundation in south New Jersey is teaming up with Acreage to construct a 100,000-square-foot grow operation.
Acreage Holdings and Compassionate Care Foundation have both signed a letter of intent for a long-term management contract for future operations and expansion plans, NJ.com reported.
May 17, 2018: Acreage Holdings (“Acreage”) (www.acreageholdings.com), one of the nation’s largest, multi-state cannabis corporations, has signed a letter of intent to enter into a long-term management contract to assist with expansion and operations of Compassionate Care Foundation, Inc. (CCF), a not-for-profit entity that operates a dispensary and cultivation facility in Egg Harbor, New Jersey. CCF is one of only six Alternative Treatment Centers that holds licenses from the state to grow and dispense medical marijuana.
New Jersey is expecting to at least double its medical cannabis patient registration, from about 20,000 to 40,000 or even 50,000, the state’s health commissioner said Tuesday.
Such numbers would almost certainly be a boon to the six existing dispensaries in New Jersey, as well as those that may win business licenses under an expansion that could allow for almost 100 MMJ dispensaries.
In March, Murphy announced that the state was adding five new categories of medical conditions for which patients could be prescribed marijuana, while reducing patient and caregiver fees and lifting limits on the amount of drug that patients could possess.
"We do anticipate an expansion in the number of individuals who will receive the program, the therapy," Elnahal told the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee. "We anticipate at least 50,000 people."
New Jersey’s medical marijuana program has made major progress since Gov. Phil Murphy took the helm, adding more than 1,000 patients a month on average, many of whom would not have been able to qualify in the past.
And there will still be a need for medicinal cannabis — to treat children, in particular — even if the Garden State does legalize recreational use, according to New Jersey Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Shereef Elnahal, who testified Tuesday before the Senate Budget Committee. Legalizing adult use has been a priority for Murphy.
South Jersey doctors and educators say they are seeing an overwhelming number of new patients enrolling in the state’s medical marijuana program under newly approved conditions.
New Jersey Department of Health officials announced 1,000 people statewide have enrolled in the program under five new medical conditions since Gov. Phil Murphy added them in the state’s program expansion in late March, bringing total participation to about 20,000 patients.
The Murphy administration will be launching a $50,000 media campaign to promote the program, NJ.com reported. Just last month. Murphy announced major reforms to medicinal marijuana program, including the addition of medical conditions, lowered patient and caregiver fees, allowing dispensaries to add satellite locations, and proposed legislative changes that would increase the monthly product limit for patients, and allow an unlimited supply for those receiving hospice care.
Not long ago, New Jersey had a medical marijuana program restricted to no more than 20,000 people, but that was the Gov. Chris Christie era. The campaign cannabis promises of new Gov. Philip Murphy are quickly becoming true. New Jersey is not only shaping up as the next big market for cannabis entrepreneurs, it’s also a good civics lesson on how one election can radically change public policy.