TRENTON -- Seven years after the passage of New Jersey's medical marijuana law, patients prohibited from using the cannabis plant to treat their ailments will get their first opportunity on Wednesday to suggest how the program should expand to help them.

The Medicinal Marijuana Review Panel is scheduled to hold a public hearing on whether additional illnesses and conditions should be added to what many say is a punitively limited list.

It is the first time the health department is considering adding more conditions eligible for medical marijuana treatment since the passage of the 2010 law.

In 2014, a state judge ordered the Christie administration to issue an annual report -- the first step in the process of considering new diseases. The judge's ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed by a patient and a physician for taking too long to implement the medical marijuana program.

In July, the health department announced it was seeking suggestions in writing for additional illnesses. Patient requests included various causes of chronic pain, osteoarthritis, lupus and Lyme disease. Post-traumatic stress disorder was among the conditions requested but Gov. Chris Christie signed a bill into law in September in adding post-traumatic stress disorder to the list.

In a petition submitted by a patient with the the nerve disorder, peripheral neuropathy, doctors prescribe narcotic pain killers. But they only induce drowsiness and come with debilitating side effects.

"When you awaken the swelling, pain and burning is still there, you have urinated on yourself and now it's time to take another pill. Life as you know it is gone," according to the petitioner, whose named was redacted by the state.

People qualify for the program if their physician has recommended them to it and they have one of the qualifying conditions: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, (Lou Gehrig's disease); multiple sclerosis; terminal cancer; muscular dystrophy; inflammatory bowel disease such as Crohn's disease; or any terminal illness.

Patients for whom conventional treatment has failed also may qualify if they have a seizure disorder such as epilepsy; intractable skeletal muscular spasticity; post traumatic stress disorder; and glaucoma. People with HIV/AIDS and cancer may qualify if treatment has caused severe or chronic pain, severe nausea or vomiting, or cachexia or wasting syndrome.

The program's nearly 11,000 members must purchase marijuana from one of five dispensaries, the first of which began serving patients in December 2012. The dispensaries are located in Montclair, Egg Harbor, Woodbridge, Cranbury and Bellmawr. One has yet to open, in Secaucus.

The hearing is one just step in a lengthy rule-making process.

The panel will make recommendations to Health Commissioner Cathleen Bennett. The health department will post these recommendations on its website for 60 days, during which another public hearing will be held. The panel will submit a final recommendation to Bennett, who has the final say.

Anyone may address the panel, health department spokeswoman Dawn Thomas said. Each speaker will be allotted three minutes. If submitting written testimony, speakers should bring 15 copies, Thomas said.

The panel will meet 10 a.m. Wednesday at the War Memorial, Turning Point Conference Room, 1 Memorial Drive, Trenton.

More information about the program may be found at the health department's website or by calling 609-292-0424.

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