New Jersey’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRM) has announced that they have drastically decreased the cost of enrolling in the state’s medical marijuana program.
The CRM has announced that the cost to enroll in the medical marijuana program for a two-year period, and the cost to renew enrollment, has dropped from the previous price of $50, down to just $10. The change is effective immediately.
“Many patients face barriers to accessing treatment due to costs, like paying out of pocket for doctor’s visits and the cost of cannabis”, says Jeff Brown, Executive Director of the CRC. ” NJ-CRC is doing everything in our power to eliminate as many barriers as possible to ensure those who can benefit from cannabis treatment remain in the program”.
The move comes amid the state’s dwindling medical marijuana patient count; the number of medical marijuana patients has dropped from 128,000 at the start of 2022, to 94,000 now (the drop is attributed to the state launching recreational marijuana sales in the spring of 2022).
Brown says the drop is costs will “hopefully incentivize patients.” He notes that in 2024 medical marijuana cards will go from being physical cards that must be shown at dispensaries, to digital cards, making the process “even easier”.
In October the New Jersey Appellate Division ruled that it was appropriate for a workers’ compensation judge to order an employer to reimburse its employee for their medical marijuana expenses as part of his workers’ compensation case.
