PO Box 360
Trenton, NJ 08625-0360

For Release:
January 15, 2019

Shereef Elnahal
Commissioner

For Further Information Contact:
Office of Communications
(609) 984-7160

Media Advisory: Health Commissioner to Give Medical Marijuana Lecture in Atlantic County

New Jersey Health Commissioner Dr. Shereef Elnahal will deliver his eighth medical marijuana Grand Rounds lecture on Wednesday, Jan. 16 at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center (ARMC), a member of Geisinger, to provide medical students, physicians and other health professionals with an overview of the Department’s Medicinal Marijuana Program and encourage doctors to participate in the program.

“The goal of the lecture series is to make the case to the physician community that medical marijuana is a safe and effective treatment that should be considered for appropriate patients,” Commissioner Elnahal said. “Since I began the lectures in May 2018, about 300 doctors have joined the program.”

The in-person lecture will begin at noon at ARMC’s Atlantic City campus, entrance at 1925 Pacific Avenue. Attendees will also be joining remotely from ARMC Mainland Campus in Pomona and the AtlantiCare Health Park in Egg Harbor Township.

Media driving cars can park in the Caesars Atlantic City Parking Garage across from the hospital. There is a causeway connecting the garage to the hospital. Media can check in at the AtlantiCare Information Desk on the second floor of the hospital.

Media driving news vans can park on Michigan Avenue, enter the hospital and check in with the Information Desk on the ground floor.

During the hour-long lecture entitled “Giving the Green Light to Medicinal Marijuana: An Overview of NJ’s Program and Evidence,” Commissioner Elnahal discusses the results of national studies in which medical marijuana has demonstrated benefits for patients with certain medical conditions and provides an overview of the significant improvements that have been made in the program during the first year of the Murphy administration.

Last month, six businesses were selected to apply for permits to open new medical marijuana dispensaries. Two applicants were chosen for the north, central and southern parts of the state, ensuring patients have better access to pain-relieving medicine.

Program reforms included the addition of five new medical conditions (anxiety, migraines, two forms of chronic pain and Tourette’s Syndrome), allowing ATCs to post prices, adding mobile access to the patient registry, and shortening the review time of patient information for ID cards.

More than 39,200 patients, 1,600 caregivers and 875 physicians currently participate and six Alternative Treatment Centers (ATCs) are operating in Montclair, Woodbridge, Cranbury, Bellmawr, Egg Harbor Township and Secaucus.

Commissioner Elnahal embarked on this lecture series in late May 2018 with the medical community in hospitals and medical schools to encourage them to consider marijuana as another appropriate treatment for patients with many medical conditions, especially diseases for which conventional therapies aren’t working. More than 2,000 physicians, students and other clinicians attended the lectures, which were held at Hackensack University Medical Center, St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson, Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Virtua Health and Hunterdon Medical Center. 

Search the hashtag #MedMarijuanaTalk on social media or visit our Medicinal Marijuana webpage for more information. 

Follow New Jersey Health Commissioner Elnahal on Twitter.

Follow the New Jersey Department of Health on Twitter@njdeptofhealth, Facebook/njdeptofhealth, Instagram@njdeptofhealth, and Snapchat@njdoh.

Last Reviewed: 1/15/2019