When Gov. Chris Christie inherited the medical marijuana law in 2010, he made sure his administration adopted the toughest rules in the nation.
TRENTON -- When Gov. Chris Christie inherited the medical marijuana law in 2010, he made sure his administration adopted the toughest rules in the nation.
And his rule makers took micro-managing to a new level.
Signs could not be the color green or feature pot leaves. Advertising was forbidden. Even the names of the cannabis strains sold at the dispensaries had to be sanitized. When Greenleaf Compassion Center in Montclair was the first dispensary to open nearly three years ago, patients chose between GL 1, 2 or 3, rather than strains known by their distinctive names in other states.
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Three years later, the state has apparently lightened up.
The Auditor has learned that when Compassionate Sciences Alternative Treatment Center in Bellmawr opened on Oct. 5, patients were offered strains such as Lavender, Blue Dream and Albert's Super Silver Sour Diesel.
This week, Compassionate Care Foundation in Egg Harbor Township offered seven strains, including ACDC, Blueberry and Shark Shock, according to social media shared among patients. Garden State Dispensary in Woodbridge offered Death Star, Nigerian Haze, Sour Willy among others this week.
The change is not about being trendy or taking a laissez faire approach to the program, said Roseanne Scotti, director of the Drug Policy Alliance of New Jersey, the nonprofit that lobbied for the medical marijuana law's passage. One strain may help someone sleep, while another may offer a burst of energy. If the patient knows the name, they know what to buy because the strain's chemical profile and how it has been used to soothe various symptoms are understood.
"It's important for patients because they have usually done a lot of research on the strains available around the country and what might work best them for them. There is a medical research behind whatever those names are," Scotti said. This incremental change means the state is "more open and sensitive to the needs of patients."
Greenleaf CEO Julio Valentin said he is a holdout. He certainly knows the street names of the cannabis plants he grows and can converse with patients who ask for a strain by name, but he's sticking with the generic label because he thinks it reduces the stigma that many people still associate with the law.
He said even calling it marijuana "is a mistake. We should call it its scientific name, cannabis."