New Jersey Medical Marijuana Program (NJ MMP) 2020

    Garden State Specialty Medicine

Dr. Lillian Alt, MD (973) 830-9813 office@subxdoc.com

Overview

Goal: To familiarize an eligible candidate for the program with the rules and regulations of the New Jersey Medical Marijuana Program (NJ MMP).

On March 27, 2018, Governor Murphy announced major reforms outlined in a report in response to Executive Order #6 which directed a comprehensive review of the program. The reforms focus on ways to expand access to marijuana for medical purposes and to reduce barriers that patients face when they are seeking access to medicinal marijuana. Recommendations include a review of regulations and recommendations for statutory action.  Five new categories of qualifying debilitating medical conditions (anxiety, migraines, Tourette’s syndrome, chronic pain related to musculoskeletal disorders, and chronic visceral pain) have been added.  The Department of Health (DOH) will also be accepting requests from existing Alternative Treatment Centers (ATCs) for waivers to allow satellite locations.

More patients are qualified for medical marijuana because of the tremendous reforms made under Governor Murphy’s leadership. The state is striving to make the program a more responsive, patient-centered program – and the dramatic increase in enrollment is an attestation to those efforts.

The Department reminds patients that recreational marijuana use is a separate issue requiring legislation to implement in this State, and the Department makes no comment on pending or contemplated legislation.

The medical practice at Garden State Specialty Medicine has a medical doctor, Dr. Lillian Alt, who is registered with the Medicinal Marijuana Program and in this capacity she can authorize a patient’s eligibility to enter the program due to any of the medical conditions listed below.  

The New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act (C.U.M.M.A.)

Once a patient is approved by the state to enter the medical marijuana program, a patient must remain in compliance with the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act (C.U.M.M.A.). CUMMA is the law that allows a patient who has been approved to enter the medical marijuana program and has been issued a medical marijuana card to, therefore, legally obtain, possess, transport marijuana within the state of New Jersey and to legally consume marijuana. Adherence to the rule and regulations of the program will minimize the risk of legal problems. Law enforcement is trained to both respect and enforce CUMMA. The CUMMA is subject to changes periodically by the state’s legislation and the governor of New Jersey. Patients who are in the MMP will be updated by our office of all official changes that may impact a person being in the program.

Amendments have been made to this law which, has been extremely valuable to allow patients with a multitude of medical conditions who now can benefit from the use of medical marijuana.

In order for a patient to be eligible to enter the NJ MMP, a patient must be certified by a physician where a patient has a medical condition that is deemed eligible to enter the MMP based one of the following 18 medical conditions approved by the state listed below (the number conditions may be subject to change):

Medical Conditions approved to be eligible to enter the Medical Marijuana Program (in alphabetical order):

·       Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

·       Anxiety

·       Cancer

·       Chronic pain from musculoskeletal origin

·       Chronic pain from visceral/organ origin

·       Dysmenorrhea

·       Glaucoma if resistant to conventional therapy

·       Inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s disease/Ulcerative colitis)

·       Intractable skeletal muscular spasticity

·       Migraine

·       Multiple sclerosis

·       Muscular dystrophy

·       Opioid use disorder, as an adjunct to medication assisted therapy vc   

·       Positive status for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)

·       Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

·       Seizure disorder including epilepsy

·       Tourette Syndrome      

Patients with Terminal Conditions are also eligible to enter the medical marijuana program:

·       Terminal cancer

·       Terminal illness with prognosis of less than 12 months to live