Marijuana legalization also includes financial benefits to society from taxes and cost avoidance. Property taxes may well go down when the state no longer has to endure the expense of arresting 34,000 residents each year, mostly for possessing small amounts of marijuana. A robust marijuana industry contributes to the state in many ways.
One month ago I was arrested for cannabis and while right now I'm still unable to share the details at this time I do want to share what happened after and how one month later I found myself a New Jersey medical marijuana patient. Back when I started this website around November 2017 and in the months prior I began a quest to learn more about something I've used medically for many years.. marijuana.. cannabis.. weed..
Submitted by bluntboy on Tue, 07/30/2019 - 17:23
The Department of Health Medicinal Marijuana Program has developed the Alternative Treatment Center (ATC) Medicinal Marijuana Strain Library to assist patients and their certifying physicians in making decisions related to medicinal marijuana. The library contains the most recent results of cannabinoid and safety testing on medicinal marijuana grown and dispensed by permitted ATCs.
New Jersey medical marijuana patients vacationing in Maine this summer won’t have to pack their own cannabis medicines when they travel to Lobster Land. They’ll be able to buy some of the nation’s finest -- and least expensive -- weed when they arrive Down East.
That’s thanks to an “instant reciprocity” arrangement the Maine Office of Marijuana Policy forged with nearly two dozen states. Last week, it added patients from New Jersey and New York to the list of those who can purchase craft cannabis from hundreds of caregivers and dispensaries.
On his final day in office on Jan. 18, 2010, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine signed Senate Bill 119 into law. Known as the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act (CUMMA), the new law created New Jersey’s medicinal marijuana program (MMP), permitting the use of medicinal cannabis to treat certain debilitating medical conditions set forth in the provisions of CUMMA.
Prior to this week's announcement, regulators had capped the total number of available dispensaries in the state to no more than twelve.
The agency acknowledged in a statement, "Due to the growing patient population served by the Medicinal Marijuana Program over the course of the 2018 and 2019, and the projected future expansion outlined in the Department's Biennial Report, the Department has determined that additional ATCs are necessary to meet the needs of the population of qualified patients."
Legislators are working on a bill to expand the state’s medical marijuana program, but the Murphy administration already is a step ahead and has announced its own expansion plan
Gov. Phil Murphy this week made good on his promise to rapidly expand the medical marijuana program in New Jersey, but his unilateral move may put the Legislature’s own expansion plan in jeopardy.
These Limits Are Ridiculous
Among the glaring items that need fixing: An onerous recertification process that requires some patients to get a doctor’s note every 30, 60, or 90 days. In New Jersey, a Medicinal Marijuana Program (MMP) card is valid for two years. However, the law requires a patient with a card to return to the doctor at least every 90 days for recertification.
“Because medicinal marijuana is not reimbursed by insurance and can be costly for patients, and because many of the patients in New Jersey’s program are either seniors or on government assistance and thus have fixed incomes, the high prices of the product are likely depressing demand,” the report said.
“Lowering prices should be an explicit policy goal of the Division of Medicinal Marijuana. Lowering prices is best accomplished by increasing competition, access and supply in the marketplace, with more options for patients to obtain the therapy.”
New Jersey health officials on Monday recommended a huge increase in the number of medicinal marijuana dispensaries, arguing that the current handful of so-called Alternative Treatment Centers won’t be nearly enough to meet surging demand.
The Department of Health said the state will need 50 to 90 of the centers in the next three years to keep up with the sharp growth in the number of people using marijuana for medical purposes. The proposed total would be at least eight times the current six dispensaries.