Are you using medical marijuana? State's top doc thinks more patients should

EDITOR'S NOTE: Earlier versions of this report had an inaccurate headline. The headline has been corrected.

CAMDEN - The state's top public health official visited Cooper Medical School of Rowan University to urge doctors and medical students to consider recommending marijuana for their patients. 

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Fewer than 800 of the state's 28,000 licensed physicians are registered to participate in New Jersey's medical marijuana program, state Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Shereef Elnahal said Thursday. More than 31,000 patients are enrolled in the program, up 72 percent since January. 

Citing the case of a 7-year-old who died from Ewing's sarcoma in January, Elnahal said medical marijuana enabled the terminally ill child to play with his parents during the weeks leading up to his death. 

Most patients are using the drug to ease pain, he said, and the majority of patients are over age 41. As an alternative to opioids, it is less dangerous for patients who take too much, he said.

"There has not been a single case of a marijuana overdose death — zero," Elnahal said. 

He called the federal government's Schedule I classification for the drug "archaic," and said marijuana has several medical benefits as an anti-inflammatory and pain control agent, as well as an anti-seizure agent and as a potential treatment for opioid use disorder. 

"There is a body of research that supports medical marijuana's use for multiple conditions," Elnahal said, citing several small studies, including one that found fewer opioid overdose deaths in states with a medical marijuana program. 

Because marijuana can cause learning deficits and memory problems among children, Elnahal said doctors should be especially cautious when recommending its use for pregnant women and minors.  

He acknowledged more research is needed, and said the state will partner with universities to track clinical results of patients participating in the program. Eventually, the Atlantic County native expects marijuana will become a routine part of clinical training.

Since the Murphy administration took over in January, the state has dismantled several barriers to the program, streamlining the registration process for doctors to a three-minute online form, and reducing the registration cost for patients. 

When the program launched during then-Gov. Chris Christie's administration, patients could buy only flower buds from an approved dispensary. Today, they also can buy topical and oral preparations, as well as preloaded vape cartridges.

Elnahal said he would rather patients not smoke or vape marijuana, but those methods are available because they work faster than edible preparations. 

The department is reviewing 146 applications for six new alternative treatment centers, and four requests from existing dispensaries to expand or establish satellite locations. Elnahal said the department hopes to approve six new ATCs by Nov. 1. 

More reforms are under consideration, including the legalization of recreational marijuana for adults and potential home deliveries. Asked why New Jersey doesn't require dispensaries to employ a pharmacist, Elnahal said that measure wasn't included in existing legislation, but said that he would support it. 

School officials estimated more than 450 people attended Elnahal's lecture, part of a series he's holding around the state. 

Dr. Mark Angelo, a Cooper University Health Care palliative care physician, was one of the first doctors to register in New Jersey's program. He said stigma, fear and lack of knowledge have kept many doctors from recommending marijuana for their patients.

He has seen largely positive results for his patients, although some aren't happy with the way it makes them feel. 

"I look at it as yet another therapeutic option," Angelo said. "There's not a ton of options out there to help patients."

Helen Kim, a first-year medical student at Cooper, was skeptical about the medical benefits of marijuana before she heard Elnahal's lecture. 

"It changed my perspective," Kim said. But if she were a licensed physician now, she said, she wouldn't feel comfortable recommending it for her patients without more research and clinical guidance. 

"I would wait until there is further investigation into the effects," Kim said. 

Leslie Abraham, also a first-year medical student, said she expects there will be more evidence by the time she is a practicing physician. 

"I think it has potential," Abraham said. "There is a reason why doctors are prescribing marijuana." 

Kim Mulford: @CP_KimMulford; (856) 486-2448; kmulford@gannettnj.com

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