New Jersey Medical Marijuana Program Shrinks While Recreational Market Expands

Recreational marijuana continues to boom in the Garden State as new dispensaries open every week two years after the industry’s launch.

But on the medical side, patient numbers have steadily dropped since the legalization of recreational cannabis, leaving patients concerned the program is floundering while the state fails to do enough to maintain a robust program for people who depend on marijuana as medicine.

“It’s like they’re not even faking an effort anymore, like feigning interest in saving the program. It just seems like there’s so much more they can do, and I don’t understand why they stopped caring about the medical program,” said Michael Wiehl, a medical marijuana patient and local advocate. “They just did.”

As of April 15, around 80,000 medical patients remain in the state’s medical cannabis program, which began in January 2010. Enrollment peaked in May 2022 at more than 129,000 people, before steadily dropping amid the opening of recreational cannabis stores, according to state data. Sales of medical marijuana have also plummeted, with about $226 million in sales in 2022, compared to $124 million in 2023. And recreational sales brought in over $675 million last year—almost five times as much revenue as medicinal, state data shows.

It was expected medical enrollment would drop once recreational cannabis became more accessible. The rate it’s falling at, though, has medical patients and activists worried. They say doctors’ visits are too expensive and there’s not enough incentive to stay in the program.

But there are some perks to staying in the medical program, like extended hours, reserved parking at dispensaries, better deals, priority sales, tax exemptions and greater purchase amounts.

Still, patients are voting with their feet by leaving the program behind, and state officials need to find ways to make medical cannabis a “very real part of health care in New Jersey,” said Ken Wolski, director of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey.

Officials from the state Cannabis Regulatory Commission say they’re still looking for ways to support the medical market. In an effort to get more patients registered, the agency cut medical card fees to $10—it cost $200 in 2018—or patients can get a digital card for free.

Jeff Brown, the CRC’s executive director, said the state’s enrollment drop is on par with what other states have seen, and emphasized the agency’s mission includes “an unwavering commitment to patient access.” The CRC, which oversees the state’s recreational and medical cannabis markets, also pointed to the high out-of-pocket costs for doctor’s visits as a factor for the dropping enrollment.

“Despite what the NJ-CRC has done so far—eliminating registration fee and requiring Alternative Treatment Center to preserve priority access for patients—patients are seemingly leaving the program because they cannot afford the fees they are being charged by some doctors,” Brown said in a statement.

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