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A law that would vastly expand New Jersey’s medicinal marijuana program passed the state Senate on Thursday, clearing one of the last hurdles before it reaches Gov. Phil Murphy.

The Senate voted 33-4 to pass the bill at the Statehouse in Trenton. The same measure passed the state Assembly last week, but that body must take a new vote to concur with a last-minute amendment the Senate approved allowing cannabis industry employees to unionize. The vote is expected June 10.

“This will be a fast-tracked expansion of medical marijuana statewide,” said state Sen. Nicholas Scutari D-Union, one of the bill’s sponsors. “It’s a greater opportunity for different patients to utilize medical cannabis, and not just as a last resort but for a first resort for a variety of conditions. There will be expanded opportunities for (dispensaries) to be located closer to where people live.”

The long-awaited legislation (A10) would end the requirement that New Jersey patients see a doctor as many as four times a year to verify they are still sick enough to participate, and reduce visits to once a year. The requirement for frequent doctor visits has particularly exasperated people with incurable or terminal illnesses.

The bill also lets patients buy more than two ounces at a time, which typically is not enough to last the month if patients or their families are making oil from the dried flower. The bill is named the “Jake Honig Compassionate Use Medical Cannabis Act” in memory of the 7-year-old Howell boy with cancer who would suffer debilitating pain the second half of the month when his oil ran out.

The 120-page medical marijuana bill thoroughly revises the 2010 law in myriad ways, and should provide an injection of rocket fuel to the burgeoning medicinal marijuana industry that generated $53.4 million last year.

But the overhaul won’t happen until Murphy, a Democrat, signs the bill. And as big a champion he is of the medicinal marijuana program — making its expansion a cornerstone of his agenda — Murphy had issues with some of the provisions.

Murphy objects to creating an independent commission to control of the medicinal marijuana program, taking it away from the state Health Department, NJ Advance Media has reported. The governor agreed to the commission when a related bill to legalize recreational marijuana in New Jersey was still on the table, but state Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, abandoned that effort about two weeks ago after failing to swing enough votes, according to four sources with knowledge of the governor’s thinking.

Murphy is also uncomfortable with the bill because it sets a limit of 23 licenses to cultivate the crop, two of the sources said.

At the last minute, the Senate delayed a vote on another eagerly awaited bill, one that would make the expungement process easier for many nonviolent crimes including marijuana arrests. Sweeney said a “drafting error” required a rewrite. The bill will be voted on June 10, he said.

Scutari said he was pleased the medical marijuana bill is close to getting done, but acknowledged he had hoped his bill that would legalize weed for adults 21 and over would also pass at the same time.

“I’m happy we got this done today. Am I disappointed, too? Sure,” Scutari said. “We will still have thousands of people arrested yearly in New Jersey for marijuana possession, and when we do legalize it, we will have to deal with the repercussions of those arrests, too."

Other elements of new bill include:

Phasing out the state sales tax of 6.625 percent on cannabis sales on Jan. 1, 2025;

Setting a goal of awarding 15 percent of licenses to minority owners and 15 percent issued to women, disabled people and veterans;

Permitting home delivery.

Although the legislation passed overwhelmingly, Republican and Democratic senators rose on the floor to explain some of their misgivings. State Sens. Declan O’Scanlon, R-Monmouth, Robert Singer, R-Ocean and Shirley Turner, D-Mercer complained the bill would not immediately end the state sales tax on cannabis. No other medicine is taxed, they said.

Turner also noted how expensive cannabis is for many of her constituents who cannot afford to pay out of pocket for an ounce, which runs between $400-$500. “We are leaving a lot of people in pain and misery," Turner said.

State Sen. Joseph Vitale, D-Middlesex, also a bill sponsor, said he wished the tax revenue wasn’t needed to pay for the program, which licenses six dispensaries serving 47,300 patients. He said patients will save money once the bill takes effect because they will have fewer physician visits.

After the vote, Vitale said there was a lot to celebrate in the bill that will improve patients’ lives.

“Expanding access through innovation and competition will provide patients with the life-enhancing medicine they need and require,” Vitale said.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report.

Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.