The state health commissioner is looking at the idea of expanding the state's medical marijuana program to include opioid addiction as a qualifying condition.
New Jersey Department of Health Commissioner Shereef Elnahal made the reveal during a lecture he gave to doctors July 11 at the St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson.
“Part of our fight against the opioid crisis involves educating doctors in alternatives to opioid therapy,” Elnahal tweeted. “Medical marijuana is a great alternative.”
Under Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration, the health department added categories that would make a patient eligible for medicinal marijuana: anxiety, migraines, Tourette’s syndrome, chronic pain related to musculoskeletal disorder and chronic visceral pain.