New Jersey Seeks to Allow More Qualifying Conditions for Medical Cannabis

Once known for having a very stingy list of accepted medical conditions, New Jersey is considering opening up its qualifying conditions to allow more patients to obtain cannabis.

According to philly.com, New Jersey’s Medical Marijuana Review Panel studied petitions from doctors and people seeking cannabis for their ailments, and decided to hold hearings about adding new conditions. Their most recent report, filed at the end of July, adds 43 more qualifying conditions to the list of treatable ailments in the state.

Among them are chronic pain, migraines, opiate addiction, anxiety, arthritis, autism, Alzheimer’s and Tourette syndrome. In other words, the state didn’t just add more forms or cancer or life-threatening disorders to their list of proposed conditions. Many who suffer these common and prevalent ailments, about 200,000 as estimated by philly.com, will be able to obtain medicine if this passes.

Currently, New Jersey only allows for a handful of conditions to be treated with cannabis, including terminal cancer, epilepsy and Crohn’s diseases. Only 13,200 people are enrolled in the medical program, making for an extremely limited patient pool. The state is known as one with an extremely limited and unforgiving medical program.

This information has now been officially posted on the health department’s website as a recommendation. However, they are yet to become state law. The public now has 60 days to comment on these new conditions, and then another ruling will be held. A final recommendation will then be submitted to the commissioner for approval.

There’s no guarantee as of yet that these new conditions will be accepted and approved by the state, but there is good evidence that an expanded medical program is both wanted and needed within state lines. Some even are hoping that recreational cannabis might soon be on the horizon. Either way, some sort of change is definitely to be expected in the coming year nonetheless.