Current law does not authorize the CRC to permit or regulate home cultivation of medical cannabis or cannabis.

The approved medical conditions include: 

• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
• Anxiety
• Cancer
• Chronic pain
• Dysmenorrhea
• Glaucoma 
• Inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn’s disease
• Intractable skeletal muscular spasticity
• Migraine
• Multiple sclerosis
• Muscular dystrophy
• Opioid Use Disorder
• Positive status for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Seizure disorder, including epilepsy
• Terminal illness with prognosis of less than 12 months to live
• Tourette Syndrome

Yes. Opioid use disorder qualifies as a standalone debilitating medical condition for the program.  Opioid use disorder patients may be eligible for medical cannabis to treat the opioid disorder itself, or if they suffer from chronic, painful withdrawal symptoms.

The maximum amount of medical cannabis that a qualifying patient or the patient’s designated caregiver is allowed by law to purchase is 3 ounces for a 30-day period; however, your authorizing health care practitioner will determine your dosage.  Terminally ill patients are exempted from the maximum limits.  

Medical cannabis and medical cannabis products are currently available as dried flower, concentrated oils, lozenges, and other chewable forms, pills, tablets, capsules. Drops and syrups, tinctures, and topical, transdermal, and sublingual forms. 

Traditional food-based “edibles” are not currently included.

No. Medical cannabis itself is not covered by any health plan in New Jersey. 

Talk with your health care practitioner about whether if office visits related to a qualifying medical condition being treated with medical cannabis can be covered by insurance. 

Yes. A registered patient can designate up to two designated caregivers to assist with getting their medical cannabis.  Caregivers must be registered here in order to pick up medical cannabis from an ATC on behalf of a patient. 

Someone driving you to the ATC, but not assisting you inside does not need to register as a caregiver with the CRC. 

Ask if your current health care practitioner if they are participating in the program. If your provider is not registered with the Medicinal Cannabis Program, talk to them about registering.  Participating health care practitioners are not required to include their name on the public practitioner registry.  A public list of already participating practitioners is available here.

Yes, after you get a temporary New Jersey patient registration. Patients registered in other states may get a temporary New Jersey patient registration by consulting with a registered New Jersey health care practitioner.  Patients will need to provide a current copy of their registration in the home state’s program and a valid photo identification card. Temporary IDs are valid for six months and cannot be renewed. 

Yes, however New Jersey’s Smoke Free Air Act prohibits smoking of any kind in most public spaces. Click here for more information.

Medical cannabis and employment is a complex issue. You can refer to N.J.S.A. C.24:6I-6.1 in the Jake Honig Act, and the 2020 New Jersey Supreme Court case, Wild v Carriage Funeral Holdings, Inc.   

Questions about your employer’s policies on drug testing and how they apply to you should be directed to your human resources department and/or a lawyer specializing in employment law. 

Additionally, for questions on worker’s compensation and medical cannabis, you can refer to the 2021 New Jersey Supreme Court Case, Hager v. M & K Construction. 

This information is not intended to be legal advice.  It is best to seek the advice of counsel for all personal legal matters.

Remaining in the Medicinal Cannabis Program can provide several benefits to patients. Medicinal cannabis is prioritized over cannabis for recreational use, so there is always a supply for patients.   Medicinal cannabis patients are under the care of a health care practitioner who oversees their treatment and recommends usage. Patients may purchase up to 3 ounces at a time (every 30 days), while recreational consumers are only allowed to purchase 1 ounce in a single transaction. Additionally, the sales tax for medicinal cannabis is being phased out (no sales tax by July 2022) making it cheaper than recreational.

New Jersey is in the process of slowly lowering taxes on medical cannabis purchases: 

• 4% on sales made until June 30, 2021;
• 2% on sales made between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022; and
• 0% on sales made on and after July 1, 2022