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Ricardo Rivera is worried about his 13-year-old daughter. The girl, who has a few medical conditions including epilepsy and multiple sclerosis, could be at increased risk if she contracts the novel coronavirus spreading in New Jersey.

So he has stocked up on her medications and food. Other than going to school, she stays mostly at home and away from large crowds. A surgical assistant himself, Rivera has taken care to sanitize and try to avoid any chance of bringing the COVID-19 virus home.

“Right now, I am completely, 100% prepared,” he said. “The only thing we’re lacking is — if we do have to go into a quarantine — is a two-month supply of her medical marijuana.”

Officials have urged people to have a two-week supply of medication, but for patients who rely on medical marijuana, that’s not so easy. Purchase limits, shortages brought on by a growing number of patients in the small program and high costs all coalesce to make stocking up on weed a challenge.

And the state’s medical marijuana program, which has ballooned to include more than 70,000 patients, still has just six cultivation sites and nine dispensaries.

“The big worry: The system as a whole is very fragile,” said Peter Rosenfeld, a board member of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey. “There’s really only six centers growing. If they get an infection there and they have to shut down, there you’ve lost one-sixth of the supply. I can easily see more than one going down, and simply patients can’t get it by any means.”

The state reported that 69 people tested positive for COVID-19 in New Jersey as of Saturday afternoon, though the number could be as high as 75 based on additional information from Bergen County.

Rivera said medical marijuana has helped to reduce his daughter’s seizure frequency by more than 90%, and he worries about her losing access to cannabis for two-to-three months if they have to quarantine during a long outbreak. He said he wishes he could grow marijuana for her at home, guaranteeing the supply and allowing him to avoid the dispensary, where people come and go in close quarters and could spread the virus.

New Jersey has not approved home grow for patients, which would allow them to cultivate a few plants of their own. Currently, they can buy three ounces each month, which can cost as much as $500 each. The average patient buys about half an ounce a month, and the purchases do not fall under health insurance coverage.

“That’s my fear, right now, is my daughter being at risk,” he said. “Putting her more in a situation because I have to go to the dispensaries where there’s already sick people.”

srsly @NJDeptofHealth @PAHealthDept 300,000 patients in your medical #marijuana programs need both home delivery + home cultivation asap #CoronavirusPandemic — Chris Goldstein (@freedomisgreen) March 12, 2020

Jeff Brown, assistant Department of Health commissioner who oversees the medical marijuana program, said Friday afternoon sales were up, but not enough to create supply concerns throughout the program.

“We are working with the [alternative treatment centers] on business continuity planning during the COVID-19 outbreak,” he said. "Our priorities are protecting the health and wellbeing of patients and the ATC employees that serve them.

The dispensaries are taking measures to keep people apart and keep the storefronts clean.

David Knowlton, chairman of Compassionate Care Foundation which operates dispensaries in Egg Harbor Township and Atlantic City, said the company is working out ways to keep people at a distance in the dispensary, rather than clustered in the waiting room.

He said protecting his employees is the first priority, but providing pot to the patients, many of whom are immunocompromised, is a close second.

“We are busier than we thought we would be,” he said Friday morning, although he said he could not attribute the rush directly to the virus.

Should employees start to get sick, Knowlton said Compassionate Care is beginning to cross-train some, so others can take over basic cultivation if needed. Without workers in the cultivation room, the crop could die easily, leading the supply in the state to drop suddenly. It takes months for a crop to grow from seed to harvest.

“At the end of the day, you’ve got to maintain the grow,” he said.

Harmony Dispensary in Secaucus will ask patients to sanitize their hands when entering the dispensary, and may ask those with symptoms similar to those of COVID-19 to stay home, said a spokesperson for the company. Employees will also sanitize surfaces and the communal spaces every hour, and cashiers will wear gloves.

Breakwater Treatment & Wellness in Cranbury prepared by stocking up on packaging, sanitization and cleaning supplies as well as halting new patient walk-in appointments, said James Froehlich, the facility’s chief of staff. Patients must also line up outside and enter one-by-one and are asked to sanitize their hands when coming and going from the dispensary.

“In the event the situation further progresses to the point where we are forced to close dispensary operations, we have set contingency plans in place to ensure cultivation continues,” he said. “While the dispensary ceasing operations would prevent us from getting the medicine to patients immediately, once the situation normalized we would be able to get that supply to market fairly readily without having the feared shortages.”

Curaleaf, which operates a dispensary in Bellmawr, said it has imposed stricter and more frequent cleaning policies, and also has new guidelines to ensure employees are healthy before they come to work. The company did not give specifics about those guidelines.

The other dispensaries, including Greenleaf Compassion Center, Garden State Dispensary and Rise Paterson did not immediately respond to requests for comment about their preparations.

Smoking also raises some concerns for those with COVID-19, as it does with other flu-like illnesses. Brown, of the health department, said officials recommend patients use other forms of cannabis to medicate, even before the outbreak.

“Generally we advise patients to look towards forms other than smokable forms," he said. “Beyond this, patients should be consulting their physicians on questions like that.”

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Amanda Hoover can be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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