February 03, 2016
Less than one week after Facebook cracked down on private firearms sales, the world's largest social network has shut down three of New Jersey's five medical marijuana dispensaries as part of its advertising policy banning the promotion of drug use.
New Jersey, which legalized medical marijuana in 2011, is one of 23 states (plus Washington, D.C.) that permit varying marijuana possession limits for approved medical purposes. New Jersey doctors prescribe medical marijuana for qualifying conditions ranging from multiple sclerosis, terminal cancer and muscular dystrophy to Crohn's disease, seizure disorders, glaucoma and HIV/AIDs.
On Tuesday, Facebook suspended the business pages of Garden State Dispensary in Woodbridge, Breakwater Treatment and Wellness in Cranbury and Compassionate Sciences in Bellmawr, according to MyCentralJersey. The removal of the pages came without warning and drew strong criticism from the dispensary owners, who serve more than 300 patients and 5,500 registered patients in the state program.
When the owners of the dispensaries logged on to check their Facebook pages Tuesday, they found a message stating, in part, "Your page is currently not visible on Facebook. It looks like content on your page does not follow the Facebook Community Terms and Standards." The message went on to say that Facebook does not allow ads promoting the sale or use of illegal, prescription or recreational drugs.
As of Wednesday evening, the pages of New Jersey's two remaining dispensaries, Greenleaf Compassion Center in Montclair and Compassionate Care Foundation in Egg Harbor Township, were unaffected by Facebook's shutdown. How Facebook determined which dispensary pages to shut down remains unclear. The company did not provide any statement on its actions in New Jersey, however in the past it has shut down similar pages in California, Washington and Maine.
Aaron Epstein, general manager at Garden State Dispensary, said he would begin to explore other social media platforms to distribute information to patients, but that if Facebook "doesn't want to be a part of that, that's their prerogative," according to ABC News.
Compassionate Sciences General Manager Michael Nelson said losing his Facebook page was significant because the state places limits on what dispensaries can publish on their websites, according to NJ.com. Facebook has served as a direct line of communication to patients by explaining which strains are available and which conditions they are best suited to treat.
Peter Rosenfeld, a medical marijuana patient and board member on the New Jersey Coalition for Medical Marijuana, called Facebook's actions a disservice that ignores the state's sanctioning, control and regulation of medical marijuana sales.
