NJ Lawmakers OK Telehealth for Medical Marijuana Prescriptions

New Jersey lawmakers have passed legislation allowing care providers to use telehealth to prescribe medical marijuana.

S619, approved last week by the full Assembly, allows providers to prescribe medical marijuana via connected health channels to certain patients who face barriers to accessing in-person care, including children residents of long-term care facilities and patients who are developmentally disabled, housebound, terminally ill or in hospice care. Other patients would first need an in-person consult before moving to a telemedicine platform.

“Many medicinal marijuana patients suffer from conditions that limit mobility, making frequent visits to the doctor’s office a significant barrier to the medicine they need,” the bill’s sponsors, State Assembly Members Pamela Lampitt, Joann Downey, said in a press release following the vote. These patients “are some of our most vulnerable patients and are typically the ones whose access to medical marijuana is restricted by the requirement to renew their prescription in-person at their doctor’s office.”

“The pain relief, muscle relaxation, nausea prevention and anxiety reduction of medical marijuana are too important to the people suffering from severe medical conditions to be hindered by in-person doctor visitation requirements,” the lawmakers added. “This bill will utilize today’s technology to help provide easier access to this beneficial medication on behalf of the people who need it the most.”

The bill, which now awaits Governor Phil Murphy’s signature, follows an Administrative Order issued last month by the State Attorney General’s Office that waived the in-person exam requirement during the public health emergency cause by the coronavirus pandemic.

The bill was reintroduced this past spring after dying in committee last year. The state is now preparing for a referendum vote later this year on the legalization of cannabis for adult use.

While many states relaxed their guidelines during the pandemic to improve access to and coverage of telehealth, New Jersey is one of a handful of states extending those rules past the emergency.

Some states, such as Virginia, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois and Washington, have drafted telehealth legislation specifically banning providers from prescribing or dispensing medical marijuana through a virtual visit. Others, like New Mexico and Hawaii, allow telehealth to be used after the provider and patient have met in person, while New York allows for telehealth without a prior meeting.

California, which legalized medical marijuana in 1996 and has since seen the development of a multi-million-dollar industry, also takes a lenient approach.

“The initial examination for the condition for which marijuana is being recommended must be an appropriate prior examination and meet the standard of care,” the state’s statute cites. “Telehealth, in compliance with Business and Professions Code section 2290.5, is a tool in the practice of medicine and does not change the standard of care.”