That resolution passed the lower house on Nov. 23, but its main sponsor there, Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D., Mercer), said at a news conference with Christie politics had been pushed aside "to focus on the truly important matter at hand, and that's the patient's need."
After calling for just two growers and four treatment centers, Christie said Friday he supported allowing six centers to grow and distribute the drug.
In another compromise, the governor also said the regulations would no longer require doctors who recommend marijuana for patients to certify that all conventional treatments had failed. The law had required that provision only for several conditions, such as glaucoma.
Patient advocates and some lawmakers have accused the Department of Health and Senior Services of proposing regulations more conservative than the law, which made New Jersey the 14th state in the nation to allow medical marijuana. The Christie administration has said it wants to restrict abuses of the law.
Gusciora, an architect of the legislation, voiced a commitment to monitoring the implementation of the program and making changes later if needed, but said the process would drag out even further without compromises.
"While I hear the advocates loud and clear, this is the way to get the program up and running in as soon a time as possible," he said.
The deal keeps intact a controversial provision capping the level of THC in medical marijuana at 10 percent, which advocates say is too weak and could force patients to buy the drug illegally.
The Senate still could scuttle the deal by approving the resolution that throws out the regulations drafted by the Christie administration. Action on the measure was postponed last week after supporters narrowly failed to get enough votes.
