Red Bank Doc OK'd to Recommend Medical Marijuana

State officials Monday released a list of more than 100 physicians, including a Red Bank doctor, authorized to recommend medical marijuana to patients.

According to a doctor's registry released by the state, Red Bank physician Dr. Walter Sinopoli has been cleared to recommend medical marijuana to his patients through New Jersey's Medical Marijuana Program. Sinopoli is the only Red Bank or Shrewsbury doctor listed on the registry.

Also Monday the state Department of Health and Senior Services approved a permit for Montclair-based to start growing marijuana, a move that could make the drug legally available to patients in three to four months. A second permit is needed before the facility can start selling the pot.

“The Department is committed to ensuring that medicinal marijuana is safely and securely available to patients as quickly as possible,” Health and Senior Services Commissioner Mary E. O’Dowd said in a statement.

In the registration process, physicians with verified credentials submit the name, address and condition of the patient they are treating, which generates a secure identification number for the patient, said Department spokeswoman Donna Leusner. Patients have to get an identification card from the state and select a treatment center before a recommendation will be generated by the state for a patient to purchase the marijuana.

Reached by telephone Tuesday morning, Sinopoli declined to offer much detail about the program saying only that he enrolled with the state to join the medical marijuana program but had not yet been given instruction on how to particpate.

Tuesday's call from Patch, he said, was the first he'd heard of the acceptance.

“New Jersey’s Medicinal Marijuana Program is based on a medical-model which requires physicians and qualified patients to have an ongoing relationship,” Dr. Arturo Brito, deputy commissioner for public health services, said in a statement. “Physicians will have to monitor patients on medicinal marijuana as part of managing their medical condition.”

The Health Department is developing its patient registry, which will open in the next several months.

First opened in October 2010, the physician registry will continue to accept new enrollment online at https://njmmp.nj.gov/njmmp.  Doctors were informed their names would be made public so patients can contact them. In Bergen County, 26 physicians were listed, including the three in Teaneck.

“Physicians must have a bona fide and ongoing relationship with qualified patients they are recommending for the program,” said a Health Department news release.

New Jersey’s medical marijuana law was signed more than two years ago by then-Governor Jon Corzine. Advocates have criticized delays in implementing the program and releasing the list of doctors.

Medical marijuana has been said to ease symptoms associated with debilitating medical conditions including cancer, multiple sclerosis, AIDS and muscular dystrophy. 

The list of participating physicians has been attached.