A jar of marijuana is seen on a vendor table at the Cannabis Crown 2010 expo April 18, 2010 in Aspen, Colorado in this April 2010 file photo.TRENTON — Getting into New Jersey's medical marijuana program will be tough: Patients must have one of nine diseases or conditions and their doctors must have been treating them for at least a year or have seen them four times and be willing to vouch that traditional forms of relief have failed.
Once they pass the scrutiny of a state-appointed review panel, patients can either go to one of four dispensaries or arrange to get their medicine delivered to their home, according to the state Department of Health and Senior Services, which tonight released the highly anticipated rules for what patients, advocates and lawmakers call the most restrictive medical marijuana program in the country.
Application and renewal fees are either $20 or $200, depending on patients’ income level. They can choose how they want to ingest their medication — either by smoking, taking an enhanced lozenge or applying a lotion laced with THC, one of the active ingredients in pot, according to the 97 pages of rules. Patients can receive up to 2 ounces of marijuana per month from their dispensaries, also called "alternative treatment centers.’’
The state also limited the potency of the drug to just 10 percent THC, according to the rules.
The Health Department will select just two growers to supply four nonprofit dispensaries — a departure from the law enacted in January. The law called for a minimum of six nonprofit centers to both grow and sell marijuana. Entrepreneurs must pay $20,000 to apply, although they’ll get $18,000 back if they are rejected. Annual renewal fees are also $20,000.
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"We have designed a clinically sound program that is unique to New Jersey,’’ said Health Commissioner Poonam Alaigh. "It is a physician-driven program that provides access to qualified patients for whom conventional treatment has failed and who may benefit from medicinal marijuana as a symptom reliever. The program is also designed to ensure that patients receive ongoing medical care from a physician."
No one is expected to be able to receive medical marijuana before summer, according to the rules on the department’s website, www.nj.gov/health/med_marijuana.shtml.
But patients may start applying next month.
Entrepreneurs who want to compete to be either the growers or the sellers will be able to obtain applications next week, according to a press release.
An advocate for the law called the rules "disappointing."
"Overall, it seems the goal of the regulations is to provide the least amount of relief to the fewest number of patients,’’ said Roseanne Scotti of the Drug Policy Alliance of New Jersey. "This wasn’t what was foreseen by advocates. We already had the strictest law in the country; I didn’t think it could get any worse."
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The rules also upset Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Union), a sponsor of the law, who said he will expect them to be changed to reflect the legislation then-Gov. Jon Corzine signed in January. Gov. Chris Christie got permission to delay the law by three months, saying he needed more time to write the rules and create a program that could not be exploited, as the laws in Colorado and California have been.
A staff of at least four people will review patient records and written doctor recommendations. The state will issue approved patients photo IDs bearing their names, addresses and birth dates, as well as the name of a "primary caregiver" who has undergone a background check and is permitted to retrieve the drug on the patient’s behalf if necessary.
The rules will appear in the New Jersey Register, a biweekly government publication, and a public hearing will follow.