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New Jersey State House by C. David Freitag

Editor Chris Goldstein was quoted in this press release today –

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 5/25/2011
The Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey (CMMNJ)
www.cmmnj.org

New Jersey Attorney General Meets With Medical Marijuana Advocates

Trenton – New Jersey Attorney General Paula Dow sat down with the Coalition for Medical Marijuana NJ (CMMNJ) on May 24th at her office in Trenton.  The AG and her staff held the meeting to hear concerns from local advocates about the compassionate use marijuana program that has now been suspended by Governor Christie.

Ken Wolski RN, the executive director of CMMNJ, was grateful for the interaction.

“Attorney General Paula Dow and First Assistant Phillip Kwon took time out their demanding schedules to listen to some very serious issues for New Jersey’s medical marijuana law,” said Wolski, “Qualifying patients continue to wait for this program and we hope that some of their concerns were heard. The Office of the Attorney General plays a key role in the implementation and administration of the compassionate use law.”

On April 22, 2011 Dow sent a letter to the Department of Justice in Washington DC requesting clarification about the medical marijuana law. Several US Attorneys have recently issued letters in other states with a clear description of how federal authorities will prosecute medical marijuana facilities, even if they are permitted under state law. In Washington, Montana and other states the letters were accompanied by DEA raids of local medical cannabis dispensaries.

NJ Attorney General Paula Dow stated in the meeting that she sent a follow-up letter to the US Department of Justice, addressed to US Attorney General Eric Holder, on May 23, 2011.

Paul Fishman, the US Attorney for New Jersey, has not sent any communication regarding the NJ medical marijuana law before or after Dow’s requests. A spokesperson at the US DOJ said the April 22nd letter from New Jersey had been received and was under review.

Chris Goldstein, the media coordinator at CMMNJ also attended the meeting.

“Not a single person in New Jersey has been able to register for medical cannabis, despite many promises from Governor Christie,” said Goldstein, “But I think that we had a meaningful exchange of new ideas with Attorney General Dow. The intent of The Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act is to grant legal access to seriously ill residents. There are some methods that the AG’s office can explore to actively protect New Jersey’s medical cannabis patients today.”

New Jersey passed the first compassionate use law in the country that forces patients into a centralized system of just six Alternative Treatment Centers to access all of their state-legal cannabis. There are no provisions in the NJ law to allow patients or caregivers to cultivate cannabis on their own. The law was supposed to have been fully implemented in the summer of 2010 but has suffered numerous delays.

CMMNJ’s Ken Wolski is looking forward to meeting with the one state official who has exercised the most influence over the medical marijuana law: Governor Chris Christie.

“It is long past time for Governor Christie to actually meet with patients and advocates in our state to discuss the compassionate use law.”

2/6/2012 – A zoning hearing will be held before the Land-Use Board of Camden New Jersey on Monday February 6, 2012. These are normally rather dull meetings but on the agenda this week is a variance to allow one of the six state-approved medical marijuana Alternative Treatment Centers (ATCs). Several municipalities around the state have already turned down the facilities. This has left the Garden State medical cannabis law completely stalled as none of the ATCs can find a home.

But in Camden there are some new factors to the attempt that could yield a different outcome. Instead of one of the multi-million dollar ATCs seeking permission this time it is an individual going before the local zoning board.  Frank Fulbrook has owned property in Camden since the 1960’s. He is also a local activist and a meticulous scholar. This writer interviewed Fulbrook in 2007 after he mapped all of the open-air drug markets in Camden – a rather large and risky task.

Fulbrook is considered an expert in the local planning code; he actually sat on Camden’s Land-Use Board for many years. Now Fulbrook has partnered up with a friend who owns a warehouse, they will seek the zoning approval on their own and then lease the space to one of the ATCs. Rather than coming in from outside the community asking to open such an innovative business Fulbrook and his partner are super-locals, which should give them a much better shot.

Even with all of these ducks in a row there are other factors. If you have never been to New Jersey you have still probably heard of Camden. The city sits across the Delaware River from Philadelphia and remains a sore spot in the state. Yes there are happy seals barking from the gleaming NJ Aquarium, a bustling Rutgers Campus and some strips of success. But recent budget cuts have escalated the violence and blight across 95% of the already impoverished community.

Governor Chris Christie and the NJ Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) have severely altered the plans for the cannabis program. Among the buffet of new restrictions was the elimination of the provisions that allowed for the home delivery of  NJ’s medicinal cannabis. This means that patients or their designated caregiver must visit the ATCs in person. Although Camden is centrally located and has ample connections to public transportation, seriously ill NJ residents may not want to venture into the dangerous city for their legal marijuana.

Another interesting note is that half of the Camden police force was recently laid off. This has led to a sharp increase in the presence of federal agents – mainly in the Drug Enforcement Administration or DEA. If the ATC is approved in Camden there may be some friction between a warehouse growing marijuana for half of South Jersey’s patients and the DEA.

Still Fulbrook is hopeful for success, “This is a good place for one of these Alternative Treatment Centers. It’s the largest population concentration in South Jersey and all roads lead to Camden. It’s hub of highways and mass transit. But there are people right in Camden that have serious medical problems like HIV/AIDS …there are a lot of people right here who can benefit from marijuana as medicine. And this can create jobs.”

The Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey (CMMNJ) is planning to have advocates at the hearing to testify.

Chris Goldstein is a respected marijuana reform advocate. As a writer and radio broadcaster he has been covering cannabis news for over a decade. Questions?  [email protected]

As New Jersey’s Governor Chris Christie continues to stonewall, delay and deny voter-approved medical marijuana legislation, women like Irvina Baker go without alternative treatments to serious illnesses. This New York Times piece is an excellent example of how our elected officials decide how laws will or will not be implemented, based on their own political agenda, and not the will of the people.

Irvina Booker makes a most unlikely criminal. She lives in constant pain, disabled by multiple sclerosis and arthritis, a grandmother whose limited mobility depends on her walker, her daughter and marijuana.

Irvina Booker at her home in Englewood, N.J. She expressed frustration about the lack of access to medical marijuana.

“I never smoked it before I got sick, and I don’t smoke it for fun,” said Ms. Booker, 59, who lives in Englewood, N.J. She would not divulge how she obtains her marijuana, but said, “I don’t want to be sneaking around, afraid someone is going to get arrested getting it for me.”

Like many people who contend that marijuana eases pain and appetite loss from serious diseases, Ms. Booker cheered in January 2010, when New Jersey legalized its use in cases like hers. But a year and a half later, there is still no state-sanctioned marijuana available for patients, and none being grown, and there is no sign of when there might be.

In the last few months, officials in New Jersey, as well as several other states, have said that mixed signals from the Obama administration have left them unsure whether their medical marijuana programs could draw federal prosecution of the people involved, including state employees.

A Justice Department memorandum issued late last month left unanswered questions, and Gov. Chris Christie has not said how he will proceed. But medical marijuana advocates say that in New Jersey, at least, the state law is stringent enough not to run afoul of federal policy, and that the governor’s true goal has been to block the program.

“You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure that out,” said State Senator Nicholas P. Scutari, a Democrat. “He’s used every tactic he can to delay and deny.”

The governor, a Republican, and his aides have insisted that every delay has been a genuine attempt to make the program work properly.

“In light of the Obama administration’s memorandum, the governor’s office is performing its due diligence to ensure implementation of the program is not in conflict with federal law and does not put state employees charged with directing the program at risk,” Kevin Roberts, a spokesman for Mr. Christie, said.

Read more.

Medical marijuana growing in CA – photo by C. Goldstein

On March 21, 2011 New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) announced the winning applications for the medical marijuana Alternative Treatment Centers (ATCs) in the Garden State. Twenty-one applicants submitted exhaustive business plans along with a $20,000 filing fee.

The non-profit’s are:
· Breakwater Alternative Treatment Center, Corp., Ocean, Central Region; The ATC would be located in Manalapan, Monmouth County.

· Compassionate Care Centers of America Foundation Inc. (CCCAF), Jersey City, Central Region; The ATC would be located in New Brunswick, Middlesex County.

· Compassionate Care Foundation Inc., West Trenton, Southern Region; The ATC would be located in Bellmawr, Camden County.

· Compassionate Sciences, Inc. ATC, Sea Cliff, NY, Southern Region; The location of the ATC is undetermined, but will be located in either Burlington or Camden County.

· Foundation Harmony, Cliffside Park, Northern Region; The ATC would be in Secaucus, Hudson County.

· Greenleaf Compassion Center, Montclair, Northern Region; The ATC would be in Montclair, Essex County.

However the regulations governing the facilities have not been finalized and remain in a hard-fought Legislative dispute.

Ken Wolski the executive director of The Coalition for Medical Marijuana-New Jersey (CMMNJ) said,

“We certainly wish the successful applicants luck because patients need legal marijuana as soon as possible.   However, we have serious doubts that these non-profit organizations will be able to develop a working program with the overly restrictive regulations proposed by DHSS.  CMMNJ still supports the legislative Resolution to invalidate significant parts of the DHSS regulations.”

Read the full press release from NJ DHSS here: http://www.state.nj.us/cgi-bin/dhss/njnewsline/view_article.pl?id=3681

4/13/2011 – Documents from the application process in New Jersey for the medical marijuana Alternative Treatment Centers are being released. The Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey (CMMNJ) and Freedomisgreen.com acquired the six applications that were approved.They are posted online for public download here: http://www.scribd.com/NJcannabisDocs

Requests for the information were filed through the Open Public Records Act (OPRA) with the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS).

DHSS officials said that the scoring and review documents from the application process are being released later today. The additional twenty-five unapproved applications are expected later this week.

CMMNJ and Freedomisgreen.com will continue to post the documents online for public review.

Officials may announce the winning applications for the medical marijuana Alternative Treatment Centers  (ATCs) in the Garden State today. The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) confirmed in an email that they would release a statement.

More than 20 applicants submitted exhaustive business plans along with a $20,000 filing fee. But the regulations governing the ATC facilities have not been finalized and remain in a Legislative dispute. Potential non-profits have stated that they would find it nearly impossible to operate under the current proposed rules, even if the state does give them a green light.

Read more: NJ Health Commissioner treats medical marijuana patient

John Ray Wilson in 2010

10/6/2011 – John Ray Wilson has been granted bail by the New Jersey Appellate Division pending his final appeal to the State Supreme Court. Although the New Jersey Deputy Attorney General Russell Curley requested $150,000 cash, the judge set $15,000 and allowed a posting of 10 percent.

His family moved quickly to secure Wilson’s release. In a phone call this week John said he was glad to be home, “My grandma needs a lot of help right now, so at least I can be there for her.”

In January 2010, just as the NJ medical marijuana law was passed, Wilson was convicted of growing 17 cannabis plants. Wilson lives with multiple sclerosis and without health insurance. He has always maintained that the marijuana was cultivated for his personal medical use.

This is the second time that Wilson has been incarcerated and bonded out as his case continues through the courts.

MS is one of the few recognized medical conditions under the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act. Cannabis treats muscle spasticity in MS patients and been shown to slow the progression of the disease.

New Jersey’s medical marijuana program remains in trouble. Delays and added restrictions imposed by Governor Chris Christie have kept state-sanctioned cannabis from being grown or distributed. Patients with qualifying conditions have only the illegal, underground market for access.

Wilson may not use cannabis while on bail and has gone back to using bee-sting therapy.

The NJ Appellate Division ruled that “manufacturing” marijuana can never be considered for personal use (medical or otherwise).

Legal observers note that granting bail may hint that the state’s highest court may take up the case.

“We think that the appellate decision is misguided,” said Wilson’s attorney William Buckman, “we are hoping that the Supreme Court will set the record straight that New Jersey doesn’t want to put sick people or simple individual marijuana users into prison at the cost of $35,000 a year.”

Pot smokers have endured their fair share of negative publicity. The 1930’s movie Reefer Madness highlighted pot smokers who simply went bonkers from smoking a joint; jumping out of windows, beating each other to death and laughing maniacally (the last part may still hold some truth).

Decades later, pot smoking became personified by Sean Penn’s “Spicoli” in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

Damn, that one hurt. For a number of reasons:

1.   The public at large began to think of all pot smokers as Spicoli: brain-fried, dopey and irresponsible.

2.   Sean Penn morphed into a pompous jerk after this role, as if the funny were just smoked right out of him. (Give that man some Spicoli back, damnit!)

But times have changed. Over 40% of the U.S. population has admitted to smoking marijuana. Pot smokers aren’t falling out of vans in a cloud of smoke; they’re running multi-million dollar companies, winning Olympic medals, making movies and writing best-selling novels.

Here are just a few successful and motivated stoners:

• Stephen King, best-selling author
• Anita Roddick, British businesswoman, human rights activist and environmental campaigner
• Michael Phelps, Olympic Gold-medalist
• Rick Steves, Author and historian
• Richard Branson, British entrepreneur
• Montel Williams, television host, MS spokesperson
• Jodie Emery, executive director of Cannabis Culture
• Carl Sagan, astronomer and author
• Anita Thompson, best-selling author
• Ayn Rand, Novelist, philosopher and playwright
• Oliver Sachs, British neurologist and author
• Ted Turner, American media mogul
• Missy Suicide, founder of Suicide Girls, alternative pin-up site.

So how can you be a more motivated stoner?

Here are a few pointers:

1.   Smoke and Do. Initiate a project after a smoke session. It’s surprising how much you can accomplish. Whether it’s a spring-cleaning or a car repair or a complex splinter removal, smoking pot can free up your mind and help you focus.

2.   Smoke and Move. Physical exercise after getting high is naturally pleasurable. Get outside, breathe in the air, don’t be afraid to care. Fire up the iPod. Go for a bike ride. Run. Dance. Stretch. Have a real-life, aerobic surround-a-sound experience.

3.   Smoke and Sit. Meditating and marijuana smoking go together like peanut butter and that weird marshmallow shit they used to put on our sandwiches way back when.

4.   Smoke and Storm. Feeling at crossroads? Smoke a little weed and brainstorm. Grab a big pad of paper and a black Sharpie. Allow your mind to wander and then write drawn or draw out possible solutions. Weed allows for more fantastical ideas to arise; ones that can easily translate into “real life” if necessary.

5. Smoke and Stay. To be truly motivated, one must be relaxed and ready. For some, smoking weed allows them mental downtime and deep relaxation, which ultimately translates into a well-rested individual, capable of executing the tasks at hand.

6. Smoke and Smile. Nothing can get in the way of a motivated life like anger. Or grief. Or guilt. Marijuana can offer the perspective needed to look at your psychological well-being and make improvements, without being so emotionally enmeshed. Simply the act of laughing is therapeutic, which weed more than happily supplies.

We’ve entered a new era; one in which pot smoking is becoming increasingly accepted, and occasionally extolled for its virtues. And while weed is not going to find you a new job or get you out of your deadbeat relationship, it can be used as a tool for change. Why not?

Or…you could embrace your inner Spicoli and enjoy the blissful state of doing nothing. After all, doing stuff is a little overrated anyway.

All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz, and I’m fine. – Jeff Spicoli

Medical marijuana press conference in Trenton, NJ

The New Jersey state Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Services Committee held a public hearing on January 20, 2011 on resolution SCR 130. This is part of a constitutional process to rescind and re-write overly restrictive rules for the medical marijuana program.

Glaucoma – WikiMedia Commons image

A recent review on the applications of cannabinoids for the treatment of Glaucoma suggests that some of these compounds may be “ideal drugs” to manage this disease. The authors call for additional studies that could examine the safety and effectiveness in order to integrate these cannabinoid compounds into daily, clinical use.

Abstract:  Cannabinoid applications in glaucoma.

[Article in English, Spanish]