PO Box 360
Trenton, NJ 08625-0360

For Release:
February 25, 2019

Shereef Elnahal
Commissioner

For Further Information Contact:
Office of Communications
(609) 984-7160

Health Commissioner To Give 10th Medical Marijuana Grand Rounds Lecture Tuesday at Jersey Shore University Medical Center

New Jersey Health Commissioner Dr. Shereef Elnahal will give his tenth medical marijuana Grand Rounds lecture on Tuesday, Feb. 26 at Jersey Shore University Medical Center to provide physicians and health professionals with an overview of the Department’s Medicinal Marijuana Program and encourage doctors to participate in the program.

 

"New Jersey’s Medicinal Marijuana Program has grown significantly during the Murphy Administration,” said Commissioner Elnahal. “It is important that we continue to share the progress we’ve made to make the program more accessible and consumer-friendly, so that more physicians will consider registering.”

 

The number of physicians participating in the program has increased by more than 40 percent, with 905 currently registered.

 

The hour-long lecture will begin at 11 a.m. at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Hope Tower, 10th floor Amphitheater, 19 Davis Avenue, Neptune, NJ, 07753. Free valet parking is available in front of the tower, and free self-parking is available adjacent to the tower.

 

During the lecture entitled “Giving the Green Light to Medicinal Marijuana: An Overview of NJ’s Program and Evidence,” Commissioner Elnahal will discuss the evidence that does exist around medical marijuana therapy.

Approximately 41,600 patients and 1,720 caregivers currently participate in the program, and six Alternative Treatment Centers (ATCs) are operating in Montclair, Woodbridge, Cranbury, Bellmawr, Egg Harbor Township and Secaucus. Six new medical conditions have been added, fees and wait times have been reduced, mobile access has been added and ATCs can open satellite locations.

 

Last month, Governor Murphy announced the addition of opioid addiction to the Medicinal Marijuana Program (MMP) as an eligible condition.  The program will have expanded availability by allowing for the use of medical cannabis as an adjunct to Medicated Assisted Treatment (MAT) for all patients that suffer from opioid addiction, not only those with chronic pain. More than 30 patients have joined the program under this new qualifying condition.

 

In December, six businesses were selected to apply for permits to open new medical marijuana dispensaries. Two applicants were chosen from each of the three regions of the state--north, central and southern, increasing access to this pain-relieving medicine.

 

Commissioner Elnahal’s lecture series began in late May 2018. More than 2,700 physicians, nurses, pharmacists, medical students and other clinicians have attended the lectures, which were held at Hackensack University Medical Center, St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson, Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Virtua Health, Hunterdon Medical Center, AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center and Rowan University’s School of Osteopathic Medicine.

 

Search the hashtag #MedMarijuanaTalk on social media or visit our Medicinal Marijuana webpage to learn more.  

Follow New Jersey Health Commissioner Elnahal on Twitter.

Follow the New Jersey Department of Health on Twitter@njdeptofhealth, Facebook/njdeptofhealth, Instagram@njdeptofhealth, and Snapchat@njdoh.

 

Last Reviewed: 2/25/2019