New medical-marijuana products OKd in N.J.
Published on 9/3/16
New Jersey's medical marijuana program has been playing catch-up compared to other medical states for as long as Governor Chris Christie feels he needs to hold back the program and it's patients. His worry of non-medical marijuana patients getting their hands on the drug has misguided the Governor to instead expand the program as slow as possible. 6 years into it's medical marijuana program, New Jersey's dispensaries will soon be adding cannabis lotions and lozenges, which are the first new products since marijuana buds. Edibles with cannabis oil were approved in 2013, but Christie only approved edibles for children. What about elderly patients or those who cannot smoke? CBD oils, which have gained praise around the country for significantly reducing seizures in epileptic children, caused parents to push for approval, but dispensaries and patients still wait.
The marijuana oils that parents of sick children have lobbied for since 2013 have not yet been approved for sale. Compassionate Sciences' application to produce such oils, which are normally added to food, is "pending submission of additional manufacturing protocols," Donna Leusner, a Health Department spokeswoman, said in an email this week. She declined to elaborate.
After the law went into effect in the fall of 2013, three of the state's five dispensaries, including Bellmawr, applied for approval to manufacture the oils. Two of the dispensaries dropped their plans because of delays in obtaining state approvals.
