New Jersey Nurse - June 2022

Page 2 New Jersey Nurse & Institute for Nursing Newsletter June 2022
New Jersey Begins Legal Cannabis Sales
for Adults
By Ken Wolski, RN, MPA, Coalition for Medical
Marijuana New Jersey, Executive Director
On April 21, 2022, New Jersey began the legal
sale of cannabis to adults at twelve of the existing
medical marijuana dispensaries, or Alternative
Treatment Centers (ATCs), in the state. The ATCs
served over 12,000 customers that day, who were
eager to purchase cannabis without fear of arrest, or
without having to divulge a medical condition which
qualified them to use it.
New Jersey’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission
(CRC), 1 which recently completed its first year of
operation, is developing the regulations for this new
industry, along with managing the state’s Medicinal
Cannabis Program (MCP). The CRC’s mission is to
create the cannabis industry with social justice at
its core. 2 Minorities, women, and disabled veterans
will get 30% of the new licenses. Many small
organizations have already been granted conditional
license approvals by the CRC, and they hope to start
opening within the year.
New Jersey’s MCP has been operational since
2012 and currently serves about 130,000 patients.
Officials estimate there are an additional 800,000
recreational, or adult use, cannabis consumers in
the state. The CRC was concerned that adult-use
sales would negatively impact medical access, but it
took measures to ensure that this would not happen,
including separate lines at the ATCs, home delivery,
and online ordering and curbside pickup for patients.
In 2014, the Coalition for Medical Marijuana–
New Jersey, Inc. (CMMNJ), endorsed legalization
of cannabis as the best way to get this “essential
medicine.” 3 to the most people. 4 CMMNJ said
legalization will allow hundreds of thousands of state
residents to experience the many medical benefits of
cannabis. New Jersey voters overwhelmingly approved
Ballot Question #1, to legalize, tax, and regulate
cannabis, in the November 2020 election. 5
The Coalition for Medical Marijuana (CMMNJ) has
identified several post-legalization goals:
• A home cultivation program for patients. 6 This
will reduce costs and guarantee the availability
of specific strains of cannabis that are most
effective for individual treatment.
• Insurance coverage for medical cannabis,
including Senate Bill 313, 7 which passed
unanimously out of the Senate Health
Committee in March 2022.
• Access to medical cannabis for qualified
patients in all health care facilities and state
institutions. 8 This will improve patient care and
reduce the associated costs, as cannabis treats
and stabilizes multiple conditions.
• Dosing and Administration guidelines and
educational programs on the Endocannabinoid
System (ECS). These should be adopted and
promulgated by the state, as medical cannabis
becomes part of the treatment regimen for at
least 10% of adults in New Jersey.
Nurses are encouraged to join the American
Cannabis Nurses Association 9 to learn more about
the ECS, an emerging field of bioscience, which some
researchers believe may play a role in all disease
processes.
Other resources for nurses include the annual
conferences by Patients Out of Time, 10 the website of
Americans for Safe Access, 11 and The Answer Page, 12
for Continuing Education Contact Hours.
References:
1. Cannabis Regulatory Commission: https://www.
nj.gov/cannabis/
2. https://www.nj.gov/cannabis/businesses/priorityapplications/index.shtml
3. Governor Murphy’s Executive Order #107 allowed
the ATCs to stay open during COVID restrictions,
declaring them “essential services.” https://nj.gov/
infobank/eo/056murphy/pdf/EO-107.pdf
4. Opinion: N.J. should legalize, tax and regulate
marijuana,
https://www.nj.com/timesopinion/2014/01/opinion_nj_should_legalize_tax.
html
5. NJ Election Results: Question 1- Legalize
Marijuana- Ballot Issue: https://elections.
ap.org/nj/results/2020-11-03/state/
NJ/race/I/raceid/31679?fbclid=IwAR
0uduIKZTLk 7WUuBMDo kPmh4Lw9Fwh
u6ncNEbgHAZdhk3VsFtwqEUyNwFU
6. Proposed Medical Cannabis Home Cultivation
Program: http://cmmnj.blogspot.com/2021/01/isexample-of-sample-legislation.html
7. Bill S313: https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/billsearch/2022/S313
8. It's time for N.J. to fully embrace medical marijuana
| Opinion: https://www.nj.com/opinion/2016/01/nj_
needs_to_embrace_medical_marijuana_opinion.html
9. American Cannabis Nurses Association: https://www.
cannabisnurses.org/
10. Patients Out of Time: https://patientsoutoftime.com/
11. Americans for Safe Access: https://www.
safeaccessnow.org/
12. The Answer Page: https://www.theanswerpage.com/
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