The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services released its draft rules today pending publication in the New Jersey Register outlining the registration and application process for patients, primary caregivers, physicians, cultivators and dispensaries to participate in New Jersey’s Medicinal Marijuana Program. The program was to start October 1, but after Rutgers University pulled out it stalled.
Here are the rules: Physicians must have a bona fide and ongoing relationship with qualified patients they are recommending for the program; Physicians are required to obtain informed consent from patients; ID cards are required of everyone in the program: Patients and caregivers, as well as owners, operators, board members, staff and volunteers of cultivation sites and dispensaries; Non-profit principals, board members, owners, operators, and employees of ATCs and primary caregivers are required to undergo criminal background checks; Alternative Treatment Centers have to document a plan for record keeping, inventory control and security that ensures the confidentiality of patient information and maintains the security of the sites and dispensaries have to provide educational materials and counsel patients on aspects of treatment including the risks and benefits of using medicinal marijuana.
Physicians will be able to register electronically with the Department later this month. After their credentials are verified, doctors will submit names of patients they are recommending for medicinal marijuana for debilitating medical conditions including cancer, MS, AIDS, muscular dystrophy, seizure disorders and Crohn's disease.
New Jersey is the 14th state to implement the use of medicinal marijuana by qualified patients who are being treated for certain chronic debilitating conditions. In drafting the rules, the Department consulted with scientists and national experts, as well as, academicians, advocates and administrators in the 13 other states and the District of Columbia.
The registration fee for patients is $200 and will be valid for two years. Patients who qualify for certain state and federal assistance programs would pay a reduced registration fee of $20.
5 comments:
Sounds typical for New Jersey, a $200.00 fee to be allowed to purchase a prescription. Sounds a lot like a 'seat license".
The proposed NJ regulations were NOT drafted from the perspective of patients, that is for sure. New Jersey is a large state with over 10 million residents. The proposed regulations, which allow for only 2 growers for the entire state is a bad decision on so many grounds. What if one growers' crop went bad, for reasons of mites, temperature problems, environmental issues, ventilation mistakes, etc. [GROWING MEDICAL MARIJUANA IS NOT A PERFECT SCIENCE; PROBLEMS HAPPEN]. So the PATIENTS are at risk of possibly not having medicine even once the program is established.
Furthermore, the regulations only permit 3 strains of medical cannabis to be grown by each of the 2 Growers, (6 strains total for the state). My question is: HOW CAN THERE EVER BE A 7TH STRAIN (which may help patients more)? Who is doing this research, and how? Again, patients are at risk of medicine that is less than industry standard. 3 strains max is simply foolish!
And that leads me into the most atrocious part of the proposed regulations — the maximum amount of THC allowed by law in the medical marijuana sold to patients in NJ will be 10% THC — which is significantly lower than what is offered to patients in other States (15-20% THC on average0. First, where do the seeds be found even to grow medical cannabis with a THC content of 10%? Second and most troubling, since research shows that cannabis is the Number 1 most-sought commodity on the planet, and also that some patients require medical marijuana with a higher THC content than 10%, the 10% cap will certainly encourage some patients in New Jersey to make the choice to purchase stronger medical cannabis on the open market, so that they can achieve the medical relief they need. New Jersey has come so far to help suffering patients — How can the program put in place be so INSENSITIVE TO PATIENTS?
People who oppose the medicinal use of cannabis by patients are forgetting the fact that life is fragile. Each of us -- and everyone we love and care about -- is just ONE DIAGNOSIS away from being a patient him or herself. And when it is someone you love who is suffering, you will do whatever is necessary to bring them dignity, comfort, and compassion (which includes the ingestion of medical marijuana where appropriate).
MAY THOSE THAT SEEK COMFORT, FIND COMFORT. [-_-]
People who oppose the medicinal use of cannabis by patients are forgetting the fact that life is fragile. Each of us -- and everyone we love and care about -- is just ONE DIAGNOSIS away from being a patient him or herself. And when it is someone you love who is suffering, you will do whatever is necessary to bring them dignity, comfort, and compassion (which includes the ingestion of medical marijuana where appropriate).
MAY THOSE THAT SEEK COMFORT, FIND COMFORT. [-_-]
I do feel that people who need medical marijuana should have higher THC then 10%. Suffering is a terrible thing! I know first hand what it is like to be in severe pain! I have MS as well as Crohn's Disease. 10% THC is not going to help those of us who hurt! It has to be understood! People who don't have any problems with health do not realize the severity of the situation. I say be in severe pain and the problem will be understood of what we sufferers go through.
The proposed regulations, which allow for only 2 growers for the entire state is a bad decision on so many grounds People who do not have any problems with health do not realize the severity of the situation.
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