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
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?
All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz, and I’m fine. – Jeff Spicoli
Writer of article embracing her inner Spicoli
Beth Mann is a popular blogger and writer for Open Salon and Salon. She is also an accomplished actor and director with over 15 years of experience, as well as the president of Hot Buttered Media. She currently resides at the Jersey shore where she can often be seen surfing or singing karaoke at the local dive bar. Contact maryjane { at } freedomisgreen.com
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.
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.
Departamento de Biología Celular e Histología, Grupo de Oftalmo-Biología Experimental (GOBE), Facultad de Medicina, Universidad del País Vasco (UPV/EHU), Leioa, Vizcaya, España.
Introduction
Glaucoma is a slowly progressive optic neuropathy that is one of the leading causes of legal blindness throughout the world. Currently there is a limited group of topical drugs for the medical treatment of glaucoma is currently limited, and research needs to be focused on new therapeutic horizons, such as the potential usefulness of the cannabinoid agonists for the treatment of glaucoma.
Aim
To review the current scientific literature related to the beneficial effects derived from the different ways of administration of cannabinoids indicated for the glaucomatous optic neuropathy.
Development
Cannabinoid receptors have shown an intense expression in ocular tissues implicated in the regulation of the intraocular pressure, as well as inner layers of the retina. Through activation of CB1 and CB1 specific receptors and through other still unknown pathways, the cannabinoid agonists have shown both a clear hypotensive, as well as an experimentally proved neuroprotective effect on retinal ganglion cells.
Conclusions
Some cannabinoid agonists (WIN 55212-2, anandamide) have demonstrated, in experimental studies, to act as «ideal drugs» in the management of glaucoma, as they have been shown to have good tolerability after topical application, efficiently reduce intraocular pressure, and behave as neuroprotectors on retinal ganglion cells.
Further studies as regards the safety and clinical assays must be carried out in order to examine the effectiveness of these drugs for the treatment of glaucoma in our daily clinical practice.
Medical cannabis growing at Oaksterdam via Chris Goldstein
11/2/2012 – John O’Brien, the director New Jersey’s Medicinal Marijuana Program (MMP), reported today that the state’s only cannabis provider was unaffected by Hurricane Sandy. Greenleaf Compassion Center is the single, fully permitted Alternative Treatment Center. They operate a dispensary in Montclair, NJ and a growing facility at an undisclosed Northern New Jersey location.
O’Brien said via email this morning: “The Greenleaf cultivation facility didn’t miss a beat, no loss of power. Their harvested product is good and the new cultivation is doing well. Mr. Stevens [Greenleaf CEO] and company have assembled a secure and sustainable facility. He deserves a lot of credit for his planning and forethought.”
Concern has turned to relief among registered and potentially qualifying NJ patients who wondered if the historic storm could have an impact on the nascent program.
Patients have started to receive their identification cards from the NJ Department of Health (DOH). Still, prior to the storm Greenleaf ATC had not started serving patients just yet.
O’Brien did not give a time-frame but said, “We continue to work with Joe towards an opening date.”
Advocates at The Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey (CMMNJ) point out that severe weather is just one of the reasons why more medical cannabis ATCs must be opened in different regions of the state. NJ is the first state to pass a compassionate use law that does not include provisions for home cultivation by patients or caregivers. Governor Chris Christie and NJDOH regulators have also refused to allow the ATCs to deliver cannabis to homes; a common practice with pharmaceutical medication.
At the moment, any registered NJ medical marijuana patient or their registered caregiver must travel to Greenleaf ATC to purchase cannabis that is legal under the law. Montclair is in northern New Jersey, just outside New York City. Although the area is easily accessible via roads and public transit, MMP participants in southern NJ (such as Cape May County) face a 10-hour round-trip journey, under the best conditions.
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]
Legislation is active in the Bay State to legalize and regulate medical marijuana through 18 distribution centers. A non-binding referendum last year regarding medical cannabis showed overwhelming support among voters.
“Since the 1930s, we’ve been fighting marijuana as the killer weed, and that has to stop,” said state Rep. Frank I. Smizik, a Brookline Democrat championing the bipartisan bill. “There are so many people suffering with serious diseases where marijuana is the only way to stop the pain and keep them going.” Read full
A lot of new territory is opening up on the East Coast for the medical marijuana industry. Maine, Rhode Island, New Jersey and Washington DC are all currently in the process of approving medical marijuana production and distribution facilities.
Massachusetts made news in 2008 when voters decriminalized minor marijuana possession for adults. Those caught with small amounts of cannabis are currently issued a non-criminal ticket and are not arrested.
Medical Cannabis helps ALS patient outlive her own doctors
Last month, Cathy Jordan sat on a panel at the Cannabis Therapeutics Conference in Arizona. Before taking the stage, she discussed the medical use of cannabis for ALS with Jahan Marcu, the Science Editor at Freedom is Green.
Cathy Jordan first noticed something was wrong in summer of 1985 when she couldn’t pick things up. Her muscles weren’t responding. In 1986, she was diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis). ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is characterized by the death of motor neurons leading to loss of limb control, breathing, swallowing, speech and widespread cellular dysfunction. Most cases of ALS are sporadic; it is not a viral or autoimmune disease.
“Most people start using a feeding tube because they are afraid of choking to death”, says Cathy.
In 1986, she was given 3 – 5 years to live according to her neurologi st. Nearly 3 decades later, she is still alive and living with ALS.
“All my docs are retiring or dead. I’ve outlived 5 support groups and 4 neurologists,” said Cathy. This actually posed a problem for Cathy who lost her social security benefits because she lived passed her expiration date. The state of Florida said her ID and regular documentation wasn’t good enough to prove she was alive and to continue to receive benefits. She had to ask her neurologist to fill out paperwork to prove she was still alive.
“You know, they say the fountain of youth is in Florida. Maybe it was something in the soil that made this plant helps me…and I don’t understand why doctors wouldn’t study me. But I still would like to know why this is helping me.”
At first, doctors wouldn’t accept Cathy’s that marijuana could be responsible for her extended life span. Other doctors thought that smoking anything would impair her lung function and even threatened to have this paralyzed women committed, simply based on the fact that she thought Cannabis was actually helping her.
“I visited a neurologist at Duke University. When I told him that I was smoking Cannabis, he didn’t know what to do with me. He was afraid. He wouldn’t even take my blood pressure because I was using an illegal drug.”
Cathy adds:
“I asked my docs if they would take a drug if it was neuroprotective, an antioxidant and an anti-inflammatory. They say ‘yes’ and ask me if I know of one. Cannabis, I tell them.”
Researchers think Cannabismay help ALS patients relieving pain, spasticity, drooling, appetite loss and has minimal drug-drug interactions and toxicity.
“There are ALS patients associations that fight for the right of patients to die with dignity. But what about my right to life?” asks Cathy. “Keeping my medicine illegal removes my right to life.”
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent any University, business or affiliates. While the information provided in this blog is from published scientific studies it is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease.
2/16/2012 – Activists are preparing to gather at the Federal building in Trenton today to destroy a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) ruling as part of a national medical marijuana protest. Members of NORML-NJ and The Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey will shred a copy of The Federal Register Vol. 76 No.131 dated July 8, 2011. The document contains the DEA’s most recent denial of a petition to reschedule marijuana.
Thursday’s protest is organized by Americans for Safe Access and is taking place in cities across the country. Portland, Maine is another East Coast city participating in the “Rally for Safe Access.”
The Schedule I status under the federal Controlled Substances Act of 1970 is the reason that marijuana is prohibited. Schedule I drugs are described as having “no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States;” and lack “accepted safety for use under medical supervision;” and, have “a high potential for abuse.”
In the past 40 years voluminous criminal code has since been created at the federal and state level to enforce the Schedule I prohibition of cannabis. Suffering the worst part of this continued effort are seriously ill Americans. They live in fear of losing their lives not just to their disease, but to prison because they find relief from a medication that remains illegal.
Advocacy groups including NORML and MAPS petitioned the DEA for many years seeking to move cannabis to another schedule. The most recent denial last summer culminated a process that the DEA under several presidents, obfuscated for more than a decade.
There are two important factors in the re-scheduling debate. The first is a 1972 report entitled “Marijuana, A Signal of Misunderstanding.” Commissioned by President Nixon and Congress it was crafted by former Pennsylvania Governor Raymond Shafer who lead a group that spent almost two years on the issue. Their final recommendation was that cannabis should not be regulated under the CSA or prohibited with criminal laws.
“The actual and potential harm of use of the drug is not great enough to justify intrusion by the criminal law into private behavior, a step which our society takes only ‘with the greatest reluctance.”
The second important factor is a ruling from an Administrative Law Judge within the DEA. In 1986 Francis L. Young said that “Marijuana is one of “one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. (T)he provisions of the (Controlled Substances) Act permit and require the transfer of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II.”
In ’72 and again in ’86 the Executive Branch tossed aside serious and well-thought recommendations about cannabis policy. Instead of considering solid information millions of Americans have been arrested, trillions of tax dollars spent and untold lives lost or ruined.
Modern science that investigates the natural plant and its component cannabinoids continues to re-verify the tremendous medical benefits of cannabis. The reality is that marijuana is used as a medicine every day by millions of seriously ill Americans – legal or not. That’s why medical marijuana activists say the DEA ruling is good for nothing but shredding and recycling.
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]
A bill to legalize the use of marijuana for qualifying medical patients and create a system of “Compassion Centers” has been introduced in the Keystone State. Senate Bill 1003 was brought forward on April 25th by Senator Daylin Leach with Senators Larry Farnese, James Ferlo and Wayne Fontana as the initial co-sponsors. The bill has been referred to the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee. READ SB 1003
The language is essentially a re-introduction of legislation from 2009-10 that was active in both houses of the General Assembly. The bill includes provisions for home cultivation and collects the state sales tax on medical cannabis. Last year the issue saw impressive public hearings in Harrisburg and Pittsburgh before the House Health and Human Services Committee. Seriously ill residents, religious leaders, cannabis advocates, doctors and nurses spoke in favor of the measure but the the bill never got a vote.
Dr. Harry Swidler, an Emergency Medicine physician said at the hearings: “Marijuana is non-addicting. There is no physical dependence or physical withdrawal associated with its use. It is, from a practical standpoint, non-toxic. Marijuana is safer by some measures than any other drug. There is simply no known quantity of marijuana capable of killing a person.”
Advocates at Pennsylvanians for Medical Marijuana PA4MMJ (this author sits on the Board at PA4MMJ) are pushing for several changes to the bill when it gets to committee this session. These include re-naming the bill to The Governor Raymond P. Shafer Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act.
In 1970, just after stepping down as governor in Pennsylvania, Shafer chaired a blue-ribbon commission for President Nixon that recommended two main points: 1) Marijuana should not be placed in Schedule I of the federal Controlled Substances Act 2) Marijuana possession should be decriminalized at the federal level. Nixon ignored those suggestions and ever since the federal government has aggressively enforced the Schedule I classification that describes cannabis as having “…no currently accepted medical use in treatment …” This is the reason that states independently legalize marijuana for medical uses.
