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Public employers in New Jersey could soon be on the hook for medical marijuana for employees injured on the job after a recent workers' compensation decision.

A judge last month ordered Freehold Township to reimburse Steven McNeary for the marijuana he uses to treat his muscular spasticity, a decision that could set precedent in New Jersey, especially as more people are now able to qualify for the medical marijuana program.

"I believe, and I think the science supports this, is that medical marijuana is safer,

it's less addictive, it is better for the treatment of pain" than opioids, said Judge Lionel Simon, according to a transcript of the hearing, first reported on John Paff's Random Notes on N.J. Government blog.

Freehold Township had argued that since marijuana, even for medicinal purposes, is illegal on the federal level, the township would be breaking the law by essentially providing the marijuana for McNeary.

Simon disagreed, saying that since Freehold was simply reimbursing McNeary for the marijuana he bought, the town would not run afoul of federal law.

"Certainly I don't understand how a carrier, who will never possess, never distribute, never intend to distribute these products, who will nearly sign a check into an attorney's trust account, is in any way complicit with the distribution of illicit narcotics," Simon said at the hearing.

At multiple points in the hearing, the judge said he welcomed an appellate court or state Supreme Court decision on this issue, saying he'd be bound by that decision. But, Simon said, he felt like in this particular case, the use of medical marijuana under New Jersey's law was better than the alternative.

"What else is important to note here is in this, Mr. McNeary's case, there is a documented medical need and the concern is that Mr. McNeary is going to become addicted to opioids," Simon said. "And, quite frankly, this Court is very aware of the tremendously, the explosion of these narcotics on the streets in the United States in the last decade, the tremendous amounts of death and addiction that are associated with these opioids."

While this may be the first time a workers' compensation judge has ordered a public employer to pay for medical marijuana, private employers in New Jersey have already been compelled to do so.

Andrew Watson of Egg Harbor Township qualified for the state's medicinal marijuana program in 2014 because of a hand injury he suffered while working for 84 Lumber in Pleasantville. In 2017, a judge ruled that the marijuana should be covered under workers' compensation.

Now that New Jersey's medical marijuana has been expanded to include conditions such as chronic pain, more workers may be able to qualify for the program and have it paid through workers' compensation.

The medical marijuana program has grown from about 16,000 patients at the beginning of the year to more than 25,000 as of Friday. Department of Health officials have said they expect the program to keep growing by about 100 patients per day, likely meaning there are more workers' compensation cases coming.

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Payton Guion may be reached at PGuion@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @PaytonGuion. Find NJ.com on Facebook.