New Jersey Assembly Approves Medical Cannabis Improvement Bill
A measure
to improve upon New Jersey’s medical cannabis program has passed the state’s Assembly with a 44 to 20 vote.
The proposal – ACR 224 – would add post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a condition that qualifies someone to become a legal medical cannabis patient. Currently nine states – Michigan, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Arizona and Oregon – allow the use of medical cannabis for the treatment of PTSD.
In addition, ACR 224 would remove a requirement that minors receive a recommendation from three different doctors in order to become a qualified patient. It would also would end the requirement that a list be made public of all physicians willing to recommend patients to the program, which has prevented many physicians from being willing to recommend the medicine, given it’s still illegal under federal law.
Another positive change that would be brought forth by ACR 224 is that it would legalize the home-delivery of medical cannabis, which will benefit patients who have debilitating conditions that make it hard for them to leave the house and make it to a dispensary.
“The purpose of this entire program is to provide relief to critically ill patients, not impose additional burdens on those who are already suffering. Instead, many of these regulations have proven counterproductive because they unnecessarily restrict access to medical marijuana for those who need it most,” says Assemblymember Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer), a sponsor of the legislation and the chairman of the Assembly Regulatory Oversight Committee. “They have resulted in a shortage of physicians, a lack of necessary strains to combat certain illnesses, and limited the ways to provide relief to minors,” Gusciora added. “The state needs to start working with patients, not against them.”
ACR 224 now heads to the Senate for consideration.
– TheJointBlog