New Jersey has added 1,500 people to its medical marijuana program in the last month.
Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy announced the addition on Tuesday. The figure includes 1,000 new patients who have one of five new eligible medical conditions that the first-term governor added in March.
The program now serves 20,000 patients overall.
Health Commissioner Shereef Elnahal says the changes show there was "pent up demand."
There are now more than 19,000 patients in New Jersey’s medical marijuana program and the recent addition of five qualifying conditions is expected to boost that number to more than 40,000 by the end of the next fiscal year.
Deputy Health Commissioner Jackie Cornell said the state is evaluating how many new medical marijuana dispensaries will be needed.
Cornell says data from other states indicates there will be a decrease in the medicinal marijuana program if New Jersey legalizes adult recreational use.
“We are very much committed to making sure, however, that especially for minors and for those with very complex chronic health needs that the medicine that they need, this product, is available to them. So I think it will not eliminate by any means the need for the medicinal marijuana program.”
The New Jersey Department of Health recently announced that you can now access the NJ Medical Marijuana Program on mobile platforms, where you can perform tasks such as register, upload documents and make payments from your phone or tablet.
Legislation is pending, S2426 and A3740, to further expand the state’s medical marijuana law.
The measures provide doctors the discretion to recommend medical marijuana to any patient for whom they believe it will provide a benefit. A third proposal, S2373, is also pending to allow doctors to recommend medical marijuana for any condition.
Last month, Gov. Phil Murphy called for several key changes to New Jersey's medical marijuana program, including adding more places patients could buy weed and getting rid of a requirement that prevented some doctors for participating.
Murphy's call has largely been answered by a bill that was passed last week by an Assembly committee, meaning it now awaits a full vote in that chamber. The bill pulls ideas from several plans that have previously been proposed and has been sponsored by eight members of the Assembly.
Governor Murphy, a Democrat, indicated he wants to sign legislation to legalize adult use of cannabis by the end of 2018. If the legislation succeeds, analysts predict legalization will generate $1 billion of revenue in its first year.
“It’s great to see a government here in New Jersey that understands the need for reforming our marijuana laws and medical marijuana program. This will help patients that need it most in the short term as the legislature continues to sort through and craft the adult-use legalization law,” New Jersey NORML Executive Director Evan Nison told Cannabis Now.
NORML’s national leadership concurred with their state affiliate.
The conditions were part of a report to the governor by state Health Commissioner Dr. Shereef Elnahal, which was required under an executive order signed in January.
If you are one of those rare, perfect health specimens that hasn’t been afflicted by any of the conditions above, and you want legal weed, you now are left with two choices: fake your condition. Or be patient. Wait until more conditions are added to the list or until recreational pot is legalized. Murphy did say that Tuesday's expansion is "not the end of history" and that more conditions would be considered and possibly added in the future.