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Adding chronic pain and anxiety to the list of qualifying conditions has done more than any other change by Gov. Phil Murphy to expand New Jersey's medicinal marijuana program, according to health department data.

Of the roughly 11,000 patients who have joined since the beginning of the Murphy Administration, 7,700 have one of the new conditions added on March 26, state Health Department spokeswoman Donna Leusner said. Some patients have more than one qualifying condition.

Put another way, one-third of 26,000 registered medical marijuana users in New Jersey qualified for the program because of chronic pain or anxiety.

Chronic musculoskeletal pain (fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus, for instance) and chronic pain of visceral origin (think irritable bowel syndrome and endometriosis, among others) accounted for 47 percent and 6 percent, respectively, of the new cases, Leusner said.

Anxiety accounted for another 40 percent of the newly qualifying patients, she said.

Migraines accounted for 9 percent of the increase and Tourette's Syndrome 0.5 percent, she said.

Dipan Patel, a physician and partner at Garden State Pain Control, a practice in central and north Jersey, said half of the 200 patients they've referred to the program qualified under the expanded chronic pain categories.

"Our focus has been on reducing opiates," Patel said. "It's been successful. Our patients are a lot happier."

Bob Grife, a pain management and holistic medicine physician in Ventnor said he became a participating doctor in the program in December and already has recommended 300 patients.

"It's most effective (treating) anxiety. Adding anxiety to the list of approved diagnoses was a good idea," said Grife, who has operated his Comprehensive Wellness practice for 14 years.

Cannabis "is not a panacea," but it's a good alternative to Benzodazepines, or benzos, for the treatment of anxiety, with fewer side effects, he said. "When it's part of a comprehensive wellness program, so far, it has been amazing."

Murphy also has made challenging the stigma surrounding cannabis to attract more physicians to the program a priority. There are 664 participating physicians, 123 more since late March, Leusner said.

Both doctors joined the program before Murphy took office, and said they didn't need convincing. They also agree the stigma, while still present, is starting to wane.

New York University Langone Medical Center, where Patel completed a fellowship in 2016, "was supportive of the use of medical cannabis."

Grife said he has seen "no backlash," from making cannabis a central part of his practice. "I get a lot of referrals. Nobody has given me any difficulty."

If doctors listen to their patients, they will want to explore cannabis, Grife said.

"A lot of people who qualify for it are already doing it," he added. "Why not give them the choice of doing it safely?"

A version of this report first appeared in N.J. Cannabis Insider.

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