NJ.com reports that Facebook has deleted the business pages of medical marijuana dispensaries -- three in New Jersey so far as well as a handful of others across the nation -- for violating the site's terms of service. In their place, the dispensaries found note reading "We remove any promotion or encouragement of drug use. Your page is currently not visible on Facebook. It looks like content on your page does not follow the Facebook Community Terms and Standards."
New Jersey law strictly regulates what information can and cannot be displayed on a dispensary's website, which has led many of the organizations to use Facebook as a supplemental information source. Strain names, for example, cannot be listed on a New Jersey-based dispensary website. The move has left many patients that rely on these Facebook pages angry. "It seems high-handed to simply shut down important resources for sick patients without even saying why or giving organizations a way to ask for reconsideration," Peter Rosenfeld, a NJ medical marijuana patient told NJ.com.
When asked for comment, a Facebook spokesperson told Engadget, "These pages have been removed for violating our Community Standards, which outline what is and is not allowed on Facebook. Here is a link to our standards." However, the community standards appear to only "prohibit attempts by unauthorized dealers to purchase, sell, or trade prescription drugs, marijuana, or firearms." Given that these organizations are legal within the states that they operate, they don't technically meet that standard. However, going by federal law they would.
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