Trenton, NJ 08618
609.394.2137
January 19, 2023
Social Equity Excise Tax Public Comment
Re: Tax revenue to fund institutional access to medical cannabis
I propose using a portion of the Social Equity Excise taxes to implement a program where the State of New Jersey produces, manufactures, and distributes medical cannabis for all qualified patients in state institutions.
In November 2015, Gov. Chris Christie signed into law A4587, a bill requiring facilities for the developmentally disabled to allow the administration of medical cannabis to qualifying patients.
As I said in a Trenton Times Op Ed in 2016 entitled, “It's time for N.J. to fully embrace medical marijuana:”
The State of New Jersey must recognize its status as caregiver of last resort to the many patients who are under its care -- this applies not only to residents of facilities for the developmentally disabled, but also to residents in psychiatric hospitals, nursing homes, group homes, and hospices, as well as to inmates in correctional facilities.
I know these facilities. I worked for four years at Trenton Psychiatric Hospital and for 22 years at the New Jersey Department of Corrections. Some of the residents and inmates at these facilities suffer from cancer, HIV/AIDS, seizures, multiple sclerosis, and other conditions that qualify for medical marijuana. There is no reason to withhold oral doses of medical marijuana from these patients.
The staff in these facilities is already trained to administer and account for controlled substances. They are trained to observe for side effects and adverse reactions. The State simply needs to develop policies and procedures to administer oral forms of marijuana to the patients in its care who qualify, under state rules, for this therapy.
The medical cannabis could be grown and processed in secure greenhouses at the Rutgers University Agricultural School. The cannabis would then be manufactured into various edible products with specific doses of varying cannabinoid contents, ideally under the supervision of the New Jersey Board of Pharmacy. These products would then be distributed to institutions.
The 2019 Jake Honig law has already called for guidelines for the dosage and administration of medical cannabis. As soon as these guidelines are adopted, they can be distributed to the medical staff at all state institutional facilities.
This program can result in tremendous savings of health care dollars. With the broad range of therapeutic effects of cannabis, it is not surprising to see that one or more additional problems are managed when the patient's qualifying condition is adequately treated. This represents significant savings on expensive pharmaceuticals. Additionally, with better managed and more stable chronic conditions in the institutions, savings are also realized in the reduced need for emergency transport, hospitalizations, and surgical procedures. Health care costs for inmates in the New Jersey Department of Corrections were $142 million in 2011, according to nj.com. A 10% savings ($14.2 million) is a very conservative estimate of reduced annual costs in just one department in state government when this program is fully implemented.
Additionally, public health will be improved, and the state of New Jersey can be a model for institutional health care throughout the country.
I conceived, designed and implemented a telemedicine program for the New Jersey Department of Corrections (DOC) when I worked there. For this, on July 19, 2005, I was awarded the Governor’s Certificate of Appreciation for “improving government in New Jersey.” The 2014 Annual Report from the DOC notes that:
“Telemedicine continues to produce cost savings, as some 150 telemedicine sessions take place each month…telemedicine has saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in manpower and transportation costs.”
Institutional access to medical cannabis, like the DOC telemedicine program, will result in considerable cost savings while improving patient care. Thank you for your consideration of this proposal.
Sincerely,
Ken Wolski, RN, MPA
kenwolski@gmail.com
