New Jersey launches digital medical marijuana cards with no registration or renewal fees

New Jersey cannabis patients and caregivers can now avoid paying sign-up or renewal fees for copies of their medical marijuana cards with the start of a new initiative from the state’s governing cannabis board.

Launched Friday by the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission, the change comes amid reduced participation in the program as the state approaches its second anniversary of adult-use cannabis sales.

As an incentive to participate in the medical marijuana program, patients and caregivers can now sign up or renew their registration without having to pay the $10 fee for a physical copy of their medical marijuana card. Once enrolled, participants can download a digital copy that can be printed or shown at a dispensary on their mobile device.

“Our goal with this initiative is to improve accessibility and convenience for patients who require medical cannabis for their treatment,” commission executive director Jeff Brown said in a statement. “By offering digital options, we make it more convenient for patients to receive the care they need.”

Participants who still want a physical copy can pay the $10 fee, the commission announced last month. Medical marijuana registrations are valid for two years.

The move to make registration and renewal free is the latest change to New Jersey’s medical marijuana program, the fees for which dropped from $50 to $10 last year.

New Jersey’s medical marijuana program has 85,641 registered patients, according to state data released last month. The medical marijuana program generated about $125 million in sales last year, Brown estimated at an Assembly Oversight, Reform and Federal Relations Committee hearing last week.

Both those figures, Brown said, are below their peaks. The state’s medical program topped out at $226 million in sales in 2022 — a year when it also maxed out at about 130,000 registered patients, according to Cannabis Regulatory Commission data. That April, the state began recreational marijuana sales.

“We have seen a decrease that’s consistent with what we’ve seen happen in other states after they’ve legalized,” Brown said.

However, he added, the state’s medical marijuana sales are still “well above where we were” before a reform and expansion of the program in 2018. Since then, Brown said, New Jersey has done more than $2 billion in combined medical and recreational marijuana sales.

Still, Brown said, patients often cite the cost of doctor’s visits to obtain a medical marijuana recommendation as a major issue in participating in the program. Physicians often charge cash out of pocket, which creates a roadblock for folks looking to enroll — a factor over which the commission has no control.

As a result, patients consider not only the cost of registration, but the cost of doctor’s visits and the price of marijuana when deciding whether to enroll, Brown said. Often, medical marijuana can be cheaper than recreational marijuana because it is not taxed at the state level.

The commission touted additional benefits for registered patients, including priority access to dispensary products, and patient-only hours and parking, in a statement this week.

Unlike in other neighboring states, however, New Jersey medical marijuana patients cannot legally grow their own marijuana — another issue outside the regulatory commission’s purview. That issue has received renewed attention recently, including the filing of a bill in January seeking to allow it.

Brown encouraged legislators to look at allowing medical patients to home grow their own marijuana last week.

“We certainly hear about it all the time and hear from patients all the time that they would like the ability to home grow,” Brown said. “I would certainly encourage you giving it its due look and due diligence.”