NJ medical marijuana program losing patients

Officials say state must encourage residents to enroll after a 40% drop

By: Mike Davis
Asbury Park Press
USA today Network - New Jersey

TRENTON - Early 2022 was a great time for medical marijuana patients.
..... Before the first adult-use cannabis sales began, a medical marijuana card was the only way to legally purchase marijuana in New Jersey. And even when those first few dispensaries opened for recreational customers, they were required to offer extended hours, private parking and skip-the-line privilege to patients - all 129,369, as of May 2022.
..... But as the number of dispensaries skyrocketed, those benefits don't mean as much to many patients. Their only benefits - tax-free purchases and a 3 ox. allotment -are essentially wiped out by the state's low cannabis taxes and legal loophole allowing anyone to purchase 1 oz. of cannabis per day.
..... As of May 15, [2024] there were only 78,045 registered medical marijuana patients in New Jersey, a 40% loss in two years. And while some level of drop-off was expected after legal weed sales began, since passive or recreational users no longer required a card, the results are staggering compared to state like Michigan, which saw its patients rolls decrease just 11% in the first two years of adult use, and Massachusetts, which acutely saw an increase to its patient rolls.
..... In an interview, New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission Interim Executive Director Chris Riggs said he expected patient numbers to eventually go back up, especially after adopting rules allowing for 'clinical registrants,' who could grow and distribute cannabis but also conduct clinical research trials on state-licensed cannabis products.
..... "Patients are obviously the most important piece for the CRC. This is how you have these more research-focused ATCs (alternative treatment centers), you'll start to see those patient numbers go up."
..... In the meantime, officials can enact other changes that would encourage new patient to enroll.
..... Here are a few of the options on the table.

Legislate away the high prices

..... The price of cannabis in New Jersey is undeniably dropping. It's also still among the most expensive in the country.
..... These two facts aren't mutually exclusive. According to the state, medical marijuana sold for an average of $10.48 per gram in February 2024, down from $11.75 per gran in February 2024 (adult-use cannabis sold for $12.222 per gram(.
..... In Massachusetts, cannabis sold for an average $5.32 per gram in February. [2024]
..... It's not surprising that medical marijuana patients are more likely to purchase cannabis form the black market than rely on the state's licensed industry, even with dispensaries opening across the state virtually every week.
..... "The ability to buy more in wonderful opened medical marijuana dispensaries was doubled by the number of new adult-use dispensaries.
..... But there's a way to turn the rapidly expanding adult-use market into a boon for the medical marijuana program: Encourage patients to buy at adult-use dispensaries and to purchase adult-use products.
..... Copper had long used his medical marijuana card more like a "discount card," he said. In many cases, he'd rather pay taxes at an adult-use dispensary, where he's offered a wider variety of products, than settle for fewer options at a medical marijuana dispensary. and some locations have a sanding discount for patients, which makes it a nobrainer.
..... Here's Cooper's idea: Automatically approve adult-use dispensaries to sell products to medical marijuana customers, instituting mandated discounts for card-carrying patients and counting such purchases toward their monthly allotment. A discount of 15% or 20% more than makes up for the loss of tax free privileges - $4.55 levied on a $50 purchase, including the social equity excise fee - and gives medical marijuana patients a reason to stay in the program.
..... "These places aren't super busy. Just let me show my card, hit my allotment and give me a "discount." Cooper said. "Make it so your medical marijuana card is more like a discount card, and make everything accessible to them."
..... Riggs said plans were already underway to rewrite the state's rules and regulations for medical marijuana, "harmonizing" them with rules for adult use.
..... "You have the same product, the same plant, the same thing being processed for consumption," Riggs said. "We want to make suer that, when we're rewriting them, how we can benefit the patients, and what we can do that we might not be able to do for adult use customers."

Legalize home grow

..... New Jersey medical marijuana patients have spent nearly 15 years in an uphill fight with legislators, calling for the right to grow their own cannabis at home.
..... The facts, at this point, are indisputable: Only four states with legal weed markets, including New Jersey, don't allow consumers to purchase cannabis seeds or clone plants and nurture them to maturity themselves. And of the 24 states to legalize cannabis, New Jersey is one of only two - along with Delaware - that doesn't even allow an exception for registered medical marijuana patients.
..... In the Garden State, growing one cannabis plant is still punishable by up to five years in prison and a $25,000 fine - just as it was before two-thirds of voters approved legal weed in November 2020.
..... Patients have argued that allowing even a limited number of homegrown cannabis plants would help patients avoid the exorbitant costs at dispensaries: At Gage Cannabis Company i ayer, Massachusetts, an eighth ounce of cannabis cost as little as $25, while a cannabis clone costs just $35.
..... Opponents have said allowing home grow would hinder the regulated New Jersey cannabis industry, which is expected to top $1 billion in sales this year. [2024]
..... "Home grow wouldn't hurt the industry. It would help the industry,: Vintzileos said. "It opens up this whole new facet of people who would actually go to the dispensary; if they had clones for sale at a dispensary, that's where I would, go."
..... while some advocates have called for wide-scale home grow laws in New Jersey, most would be happy with a program that begins with allowing medical marijuana patient the benefit first. there are existing bills proposed in both the Senate and Assembly that would allow patient to grow up to four mature and four immature cannabis plants at home.
..... Despite sponsorship form both Democrats and Republicans, neither has received a committee hearing since they were first introduced last session.

..... Mike Davis has spent the last decade covering New Jersey local news, marijuana legalization, transportation and basically whatever else is going on at any given moment. Contact him at mdavis@gannettnj.com or @byMikeDavis on Twitter or X.

HOME