New Jersey Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Proclaimed Essential Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

New Jersey is the latest state to name medical marijuana among the essential products residents may leave their home to purchase amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

Gov. Phil Murphy has signed an order directing all residents to stay at home unless they are acquiring certain “essential goods or services." Executive Order No. 107 was signed on Saturday in an effort to protect the state’s residents and the health care system from the coronavirus pandemic.

The directive, per the state’s new website, forbids all gatherings caused by various social events, and demands the closure of all non-essential retail businesses, except for those deemed essential, such as grocery stores and other food stores, pharmacies and dispensaries, gas stations, banks, and pet stores.

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Businesses should either minimize the number of their employees on site or/and where applicable make for them work-from-home arrangements.

“From day one, we’ve made a commitment to be guided by the facts and take any action necessary to protect the health and safety of New Jersey’s nine million residents,” said Murphy. “We know the virus spreads through person-to person contact, and the best way to prevent further exposure is to limit our public interactions to only the most essential purposes. This is a time for us all to come together in one mission to ‘flatten the curve’ and slow – and eventually halt – the spread of coronavirus.”

On March 17, the state of New York also proclaimed medical marijuana dispensaries as essential businesses, while California and Illinois have proclaimed both medical and adult-use retail stores as essential, according to Marijuana Business Daily.

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