NJ Governor Conditionally Vetoes Medical Marijuana Telehealth Bill
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has rejected legislation aimed at boosting telehealth use for medical marijuana prescriptions, saying the bill adds barriers instead of erasing them.
- New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has rejected a telehealth bill recently approved by the state’s Legislature because it doesn’t go far enough.
Murphy conditionally vetoed SB 619 and A 1635, which would have allowed providers to use connected health channels to prescribe medical marijuana. The bill, which was passed in the state Assembly by a 68-6-3 vote and in the Senate by a 33-1 vote, allows for telehealth prescriptions for people who face barriers to in-person care, including children in long-term care facilities and patients who are developmentally disabled, housebound, terminally ill or in hospice care, but it first requires an in-person exam for most others and wouldn’t take effect until 270 days after its date of enactment.