CORRECTED COPY

LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE

ASSEMBLY, No. 913

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

221st LEGISLATURE

 

DATED: DECEMBER 18, 2025

 

 

SUMMARY

 

Synopsis:

Authorizes medical cannabis for treatment of sickle cell anemia.

Type of Impact:

Annual State expenditure increase; annual State and local revenue impact.

Agencies Affected:

Cannabis Regulatory Commission; local governments.

 

 

Office of Legislative Services Estimate

Fiscal Impact

 

Annual

 

 

State Expenditure Increase

 

Indeterminate

 

 

State Revenue Net Impact

 

Indeterminate

 

 

Local Revenue Decrease

 

Indeterminate

 

 

 

 

 

·       The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) concludes that the bill will increase Cannabis Regulatory Commission expenditures by an indeterminate but marginal amount to regulate participation in the medicinal cannabis program by qualifying individuals diagnosed with sickle cell disease.  Given the well-established regulatory infrastructure for the medicinal cannabis program, the addition of sickle cell disease patients to the program’s current patient population, which approximated 64,000 individuals in 2024, would have a modest impact on State expenditures. 

·       State revenues will increase by a maximum of $14,200 annually, in the form of the $10.00 fee charged for a physical identification card for sickle cell disease patients and caregivers who are newly registered for the medicinal cannabis program and, in future years, those patients and caregivers who renew their registration.

·       Since June 2024, the commission, which administers and regulates the medicinal cannabis program, offers new and existing medicinal cannabis patients and their caregivers the option of a digital identification card at no cost.  To the extent that newly-enrolled sickle cell disease patients and their caregivers choose digital identification cards over physical cards, State revenues would increase by a lesser amount.

·       To the extent that individuals with sickle cell disease who use recreational cannabis to manage their symptoms switch to medicinal cannabis to mitigate pain crises, State and local revenues would be reduced by an indeterminate amount.

 

 

BILL DESCRIPTION

 

      This bill expands the list of medical conditions that qualify a patient for the medical use of cannabis to include sickle cell anemia.  Sickle cell anemia is an inherited blood disorder characterized primarily by chronic anemia and periodic episodes of pain.

 

 

FISCAL ANALYSIS

 

EXECUTIVE BRANCH

 

      None received.

 

OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES

 

      The OLS concludes that the bill will increase State expenditures by an indeterminate but marginal amount to regulate participation in the medicinal cannabis program by qualifying individuals diagnosed with sickle cell disease.  Given that the regulatory infrastructure for the medicinal cannabis program has been established for over ten years, the addition of sickle cell disease patients to the program’s current patient population, which approximated 64,000 individuals in 2024, would have a modest impact on State costs.

      State revenues will also increase, by a maximum of $14,200 annually, in the form of the $10.00 fee charged for a physical identification card, which is required for the purchase of medicinal cannabis, for newly-enrolling sickle cell disease patients and their caregivers, and for those patients and caregivers who are renewing their registration with the medical cannabis program and want a physical card.  This estimate assumes that 33.3 percent of eligible patients with sickle cell disease and their caregivers will register to participate in the medicinal cannabis program each year.  Currently, a participating patient and the patient’s caregiver, if any, is required to renew their registration to participate in the medicinal cannabis program every two years.

      However, as of June 2024, the Cannabis Regulatory Commission, which administers and regulates the medicinal cannabis program, offers new and existing medicinal cannabis patients and their caregivers the option of a digital identification card at no cost.  The digital card can be downloaded to the patient’s or caregiver’s phone and is an accepted form of identification for the purchase of medicinal cannabis.  According to the commission, 96 percent of participants in the State’s medicinal cannabis program utilized physical identification cards in 2024; however, this percentage will likely decline in the coming months as newly-enrolled participants and renewing patients and caregivers opt for free digital identification cards.

      To the extent that individuals with sickle cell anemia who currently use recreational cannabis to manage their disease symptoms switch to medicinal cannabis, the bill may reduce State revenues from the Social Equity Excise Fee and the State’s sales and use tax.  Since July 1, 2022, medicinal cannabis sales have been exempt from the State’s 6.625 percent sales and use tax.  The OLS, however, lacks the informational basis to determine the number of individuals with a sickle cell anemia diagnosis who currently use recreational cannabis to manage their symptoms, nor to anticipate the percentage of these individuals who may switch to medicinal cannabis under the bill.  As such, the OLS concludes that the net impact of the bill’s provisions on State revenues is indeterminate.  The provisions under the bill will have an indeterminate impact on local revenues, in the form of the local option Cannabis Transfer Tax, in the amount of up to two percent on the sale of recreational cannabis or cannabis items by a licensed entity located in a municipality.  

 

 

Section:

Human Services

Analyst:

Anne Cappabianca

Senior Fiscal Analyst

Approved:

Thomas Koenig

Legislative Budget and Finance Officer

 

 

This legislative fiscal estimate has been produced by the Office of Legislative Services due to the failure of the Executive Branch to respond to our request for a fiscal note.

 

This fiscal estimate has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980, c.67 (C.52:13B-6 et seq.).