The Jake Honig Compassionate Use Medical Cannabis Act, nicknamed Jake's Law, was named after 7-year-old Jake Honig who died on January 21, 2018, in New Jersey from brain cancer. [1] Jake's Law expanded the state's medical marijuana program and was based on Jake's story. It was signed into law by Governor Phil Murphy on July 2, 2019. [2]
Jake Honig was diagnosed with brain cancer when he was 2. During the course of his disease, he lived through several rounds of remissions and relapses. He had two surgeries, 61 rounds of radiation and 20 rounds of chemotherapy. [3] At one point, his parents tried giving him medical cannabis to ease his symptoms. They reported that his pain subsided, and he ate and drank and became more active. [3]
During the last months of Jake's life, his family said that medical cannabis relieved some of his symptoms. However, the state had a limit of just 2 ounces per month, and the family ran out. Once they ran out, they used morphine and OxyContin to ease his pain. After he died, the family led efforts to reform the medical marijuana program in the state. [1]
Mike Honig, Jake's father, said, “Our biggest obstacle was running out of medicine, something that no parent should ever have to endure. Your child goes through everything that's asked. Surgeries. Radiation. Chemotherapy. And then when it comes time where you can no longer save his life, all you can do is keep him comfortable, you should be allowed to do that." [3]
The law created a new state agency, the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission, in charge of running the state's medical cannabis program. [2]
Jake's Law more than doubled the number of cultivators allowed in the program from 12 to 28. Prior to passage of the law, companies involved in medical cannabis were simply known as “alternative treatment centers” with the production, processing, and distribution integrated into single organizations. This law created three different, distinct types of permits: cultivators, manufacturers, and dispensaries. [2]
On July 1, 2022 the 6.625% sales tax on medical cannabis came to an end. [2]
Under the law, patients only need to see their doctors once per year to maintain their cannabis prescriptions. Before the law, patients were required to go see their doctors every 3 months. [4]
The law expanded access to patients from 2 ounces per month to 3 ounces, while removing limits altogether on terminally ill patients. [2]
The law expanded the number of conditions that qualify for medical cannabis access, including adding chronic pain as a qualifier. After Jake's Law was signed, the following medical conditions counted as qualifying medical conditions for medical cannabis in New Jersey: [2]
Additionally, the state's regulatory commission was given statutory authority to approve other conditions. [2]
Under the law, companies are specifically prohibited from taking any adverse action against employees based on the employee's status as a medical cannabis patient. [2]
The formal citation for Jake's Law is Jake Honig Compassionate Use Medical Cannabis Act, N.J.S.A. 24:6I-2, et seq. [5]
In 2018, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy issued Executive Order No. 6, which tasked the state's Department of Health with issuing a report on the state's medical marijuana program. [6]
New Jersey House Bill A20, introduced by Assemblywoman Joann Downey, made statutory changes to New Jersey's existing medical cannabis program and was based on that report. [6]
Jake Honig's story had caught the attention of Downey's niece, Morgan Dias. After learning about Jake and his family, Downey named the bill the Jake Honig Compassionate Use Medical Cannabis Act. [3]
As the bill worked its way through the state legislature, it passed the Assembly, 66-to-5, and passed the state Senate, 31-to-5. [3]
According to the Asbury Park Press, “[Governor Phil] Murphy signed the bill at Tommy's Tavern + Tap, a local restaurant, in front of dozens onlookers, many of whom were Honig's friends and family wearing #belikejake T-shirts.” [3]
Proposition 215, or the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, is a California law permitting the use of medical cannabis despite marijuana's lack of the normal Food and Drug Administration testing for safety and efficacy. It was enacted, on November 5, 1996, by means of the initiative process, and passed with 5,382,915 (55.6%) votes in favor and 4,301,960 (44.4%) against.
The Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, a law in the U.S. state of Oregon, was established by Oregon Ballot Measure 67 in 1998, passing with 54.6% support. It modified state law to allow the cultivation, possession, and use of marijuana by doctor recommendation for patients with certain medical conditions. The Act does not affect federal law, which still prohibits the cultivation and possession of marijuana.
Expanded access or compassionate use is the use of an unapproved drug or medical device under special forms of investigational new drug applications (IND) or IDE application for devices, outside of a clinical trial, by people with serious or life-threatening conditions who do not meet the enrollment criteria for the clinical trial in progress.
The New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of New Jersey. New Jersey's State Board of Health was established in 1877. Its administrative functions were vested in the Department of Health, which was created in 1947. In 1996, the latter was renamed the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS). In 2012, senior services programs moved back into the Department of Human Services, and DHSS again became the Department of Health.
Cannabis in Georgia is illegal for recreational use, but decriminalized in the cities of Atlanta, Savannah, Macon, and a few others. Limited medical use is allowed in the form of cannabis oil containing less than 5% THC.
Cannabis in Iowa is illegal for recreational use if classified as marijuana but consumable hemp products including CBD products are legal for consumers to possess and registered retailers to sell. Possession of even small amounts of marijuana is a misdemeanor crime. The state has a medical cannabidiol program for serious medical conditions that allows for the legal possession of products containing 3% or less THC.
Cannabis in Nevada became legal for recreational use on January 1, 2017, following the passage of Question 2 on the 2016 ballot. The first licensed sales of recreational cannabis began on July 1, 2017.
Cannabis in Texas is illegal for recreational use. Possession of up to two ounces is a class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to 180 days in prison and a fine of up to $2000. Several of the state's major municipalities have enacted reforms to apply lesser penalties or limit enforcement, however.
Cannabis in Pennsylvania is illegal for recreational use, but possession of small amounts is decriminalized in several of the state's largest cities. Medical use was legalized in 2016 through a bill passed by the state legislature.
Cannabis in Minnesota is legal for medical use as of 2014, but illegal for recreational use with the exception of hemp-derived food and beverages.
Cannabis in New York is legal for recreational and medical use. Adults aged 21+ are allowed to possess up to 3 ounces (85 g) of cannabis or 0.85 ounces (24 g) of concentrated cannabis. Adults 21 and older are allowed to possess up to 5 lbs individually in their own homes. In addition, home cultivation of up to three mature and three immature cannabis plants per individual will be permitted, with a maximum of twelve plants per household, once regulations for home grow are in place. Previously, the possession of small amounts of cannabis had been decriminalized and was treated as a violation. The medical use of cannabis is permitted in certain circumstances. On March 30, 2021, both houses of the New York State Legislature approved legislation to legalize marijuana. The bill was signed into law by former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on March 31, 2021. The law also resulted in previous marijuana-related criminal records in the state of New York being expunged. As of October 2021 New York State prohibited employers from testing both prospective and current employees for cannabis use or otherwise discriminating against employees who use cannabis outside of work hours.
Cannabis in Illinois is legal for both medical and recreational use. Illinois became the eleventh state in the US to legalize recreational marijuana effective January 1, 2020.
Cannabis in New Mexico is legal for recreational use as of June 29, 2021. A bill to legalize recreational use – House Bill 2, the Cannabis Regulation Act – was signed by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on April 12, 2021. The first licensed sales of recreational cannabis began on April 1, 2022.
Cannabis in New Jersey is legal for both medical use and recreational use. An amendment legalizing cannabis became part of the state constitution on January 1, 2021, and enabling legislation and related bills were signed into law by governor Phil Murphy on February 22, 2021.
Cannabis in Delaware is illegal for recreational use, though decriminalized for possession of small amounts. Medical use of cannabis is permitted for adult patients with certain serious illnesses.
Cannabis in Maryland is legal for medical use and illegal for recreational use, but possession of 10 grams or less is decriminalized. In 2013, a state law was enacted to establish a state-regulated medical cannabis program. The program, known as the Natalie M. LaPrade Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission (MMCC) became operational on December 1, 2017.
Cannabis in Michigan is legal for recreational use. A 2018 initiative to legalize recreational use passed with 56% of the vote. State-licensed sales of recreational cannabis began in December 2019.
Jacki Rickert was founder and executive director of the medical marijuana patients advocacy group Is My Medicine Legal Yet? (IMMLY). Rickert lived with connective tissue disorder Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and a neurological disorder that causes chronic pain called Advanced Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy. Rickert was one of twenty-eight patients who were approved in 1990 to begin getting marijuana from the federal Compassionate Investigational New Drug Program before President George Bush ended the program, in 1991, but never got their medicine. Rickert travelled in her wheelchair 210 miles (340 km) from her home in Mondovi, Wisconsin, to the State Capitol in Madison on September 11–18, 1997, to raise awareness of her plight.
New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory and Expungement Aid Modernization Act (S.2703) is proposed legislation to legalize, tax and regulate adult-use cannabis in the U.S. state of New Jersey, and to expunge certain drug-related offenses. A state Senate–Assembly joint committee passed the bill in November 2018 for a vote by both houses. The state governor Phil Murphy indicated support for legalization in his 2017 campaign.
The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission is a state government agency that regulates the sale of medicinal and recreational marijuana products in New Jersey.
