In our spotlight on Business Report tonight, interest in New Jersey's medical marijuana program is so low, state regulators are slashing the price to enroll by 80%.

Registration costs are now $10 every two years, down from 50 for most patients.

Officials with the Cannabis Regulatory Commission, which oversees the statewide program, say enrollment has been rapidly declining since New Jersey launched a recreational marijuana market in 2022.

But while medical sales are dropping, adult sales continue to grow about 10% each quarter.

And that's not the only battle state regulators are up against.

For more on that, I'm joined by Jeff Brown, executive director of the Cannabis Regulatory Commission.

Jeff Brown, thanks for giving us a few minutes of your time.

Let me just talk to you about membership with the medicinal program.

How low is the roster right now?

So where did it start and where does the state stand today?

Well, so when we talk about where we started, that really goes back to 2018 when we started to reform the medicinal cannabis program under the leadership of Governor Murphy.

At the time that the administration took over, there were only 17,000 patients enrolled in the program in only five dispensaries.

We grew those roles over time by adding new conditions and expanding the marketplace to 130,000 patients at our high point.

And since we've launched recreational sales, we've started to see roles decrease, you know, gradually over time.

We're now at about mid 90,000, about 95,000 just under.

And, you know, so one of the things we did at our last board meeting was our board approved reduction of fees to enroll in the medicinal cannabis program from.

It used to be $50 for, you know, if you didn't qualify for a reduced fee card or $20 if you did.

Now it's $10 for everybody.

And then in early 2024, we're going to be releasing free digital ID cards.

So anybody who is okay with a digital ID card will be able to get enroll for free at no cost.

And anybody who wants to wants a physical card, then they would just pay $10.

Is the the cost to enroll.

Largely what your commission has heard is the biggest barrier for people not enrolling, because, of course, there have been criticisms from the start of the industry until now that just the sheer cost of the medicinal or recreational marijuana is so high that folks don't want to go through the hurdles of enrolling.

You know, we hear from patients that the cost of medicinal cannabis is is high.

We've seen those prices start to come down.

You know, some of the benefits of being in the medicinal cannabis program, there are 48 dispensaries now across the state that serve patients.

Patients get prioritized in dispensaries where there are dual use, both adult use and medicinal that those include patient only hours, designated parking spots and priority lines for patients.

There's no state tax on cannabis, so the state sales tax has been eliminated on medicinal cannabis.

While there is a state sales tax on recreational cannabis as well as as well as an excise fee.

We also hear from patients that the cost from doctors and health care providers can be prohibitive in some cases.

Across the river in Pennsylvania, the lowest price that a medicinal patient pays there is about $18 for an ounce.

Here in New Jersey, it's $40 for an ounce.

So aren't we losing some folks, too, to surrounding states?

And their purchase power is going there?

Well, look, we're sympathetic about the price of medicine being as high as they are.

They have come down in New Jersey significantly.

You know, we shared data.

I think the cost of an ounce for medicinal cannabis, for medicinal cannabis is just over $300 in New Jersey.

And we expect that to come down more, you know, as this market develops and there's more competition, prices are going to drop.

And we're seeing that happen happening now.

And that's only going to continue as more businesses get operational, both to serve medicinal patients and to serve adult use consumers.

Jeff Brown is the executive director with New Jersey's Cannabis Regulatory Commission.

Jeff, thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you for having me.

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