TRENTON — Patients in need of medical marijuana in more than half the state have a tough time getting the drug because the program is too bureaucratic, too expensive and few doctors are willing to participate, patient advocates and a dispensary owner told a state legislative committee today.



Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, (D-Mercer) chairman of the Assembly Regulatory Oversight Committee, said he called the hearing to get ideas about how to improve the program, either through legislation or through negotiation with the state Health Department and the Christie administration.

Four years after the law was enacted, the Christie administration has yet to translate into a reliable program, said Peter Rosenfeld from the Coalition for Medical Marijuana of New Jersey, an advocacy group. Of the three operating dispensaries, one has struggled with producing enough marijuana and another has had “quality control problems,” he said.

“Patients have become very discouraged,” said Rosenfeld, who recently drove several registered participants from south Jersey to Garden State Dispensary in Woodbridge, a three-hour round trip. “We had to stop three times because one woman was in so much pain. She was crying by the time we got there. "

The program allows patients to name a “caregiver” to retrieve the marijuana, but “the rules for getting a caregiver are so extreme," Rosenfeld said. They have to be fingerprinted, (pass) a background check and pay $200. Who are you going to find to do that for you?”

Speaking on behalf of the three operating dispensaries, Michael Weisser, chief operating officer of the Garden State Dispensary, suggested the health department could reduce the $200 program registration fee to $25, which is more in line with other states.

The state also mandates patients -- many of them with incurable and long-term illnesses - ask their doctors to re-authorize their participation in the program every 90 days , but it would be more reasonable if the requirement was every six to 12 months, Weisser said.

Approximately 47% of registered patients and caregivers have paid the reduced application fee of $20 because of their low-income status, health department spokeswoman Donna Leusner said.

Weisser also made a pitch to allow dispensaries to make deliveries, and produce edible products for adults. The governor in September allowed dispensaries to dispense marijuana-laced edible products for minors only after the parents of children with severe epilepsy disorders convinced him more flexibility was needed.

“We see a number of very ill patients, many of whom have lung diseases, and requiring them to smoke the product, which is the only alternative, is patently unfair,” Weisser said.

More doctors may join the program and refer more patients if their names were not on a publicly-available list on the state website, Weisser said.

Saying “the medicinal marijuana program has made significant progress," Health Commissioner Mary O'Dowd offered a more favorable view of the state's progress.

In a statement read by the health department's Legislative Services Director Victoria Brogan, nearly 80 percent of the program's 1,700 registered patients have been served by the three open dispensaries, which have sold 132 pounds of pot.

Three other dispensaries have yet to open, but one planned for central Jersey, Breakwater Alternative Treatment Center, has an approved location and business plan, O’Dowd’s statement said.

Besides Garden State, the other two operating dispensaries are Greenleaf Compassion Center in Montclair and Compassionate Care Foundation, Inc. in Egg Harbor.

It's uncertain whether any changes Gusciora proposes will gain traction. Gov. Chris Christie said last year he was "done expanding the medical marijuana program under any circumstances,” because he thinks it will lead down a path to legalizing pot.

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