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.

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.

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

Other blogs:

on Opensalon.com

Hot Buttered Media

After making the final four in the Miss USA competition, Alyssa Campanella answered a question about legalizing marijuana by saying she didn’t think it should be fully legalized as a solution to help ailing economies. No, wait…that’s not exactly what she said.

Let’s look at her actual answer:

“Well, I understand why that question would be asked, especially with today’s economy, but I also understand that medical marijuana is very important to help those who need it medically,” she said. “I’m not sure if it should be legalized, if it would really affect, with the drug war. I mean, it’s abused today, unfortunately, so that’s the only reason why I would kind of be a little bit against it, but medically it’s OK.”

I knew this competition was about beauty and brains. I don’t care what those feminists say. That answer was the best mushy non-answer ever! I hope she runs for office soon. Maybe then she’ll find out that medical marijuana has actually been legal in California for quite some time. But I’m glad she’s okay with it.

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

As part of an ongoing series, we’ll explore the great big world of herbs in general.

As you know, marijuana has numerous medicinal properties. And many of you are probably already hip to the other herbs out there that possess their own special healing and protective properties.

What you may not know is that herbs possess a more concentrated amount of antioxidants than you’ll get from fruits and vegetables alone. Not only that, but herbs often possess a wider array of antioxidants. So by integrating herbs into your diet, you are protecting your body from free radical damage in a substantial way.

So if  marijuana is part of a holistic lifestyle choice, then that lifestyle should include any ways we can return to nature as a method to heal and protect ourselves.

Last month, we explored the myriad of benefits of thyme.

This week, the spotlight is on rosemary.

 

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is a woody, perennial herb with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves. It is native to the Mediterranean region and a member of the mint family Lamiaceae. The name is derived from the Latin name rosmarinus, meaning “dew of the sea,” based on the fact that in many locations it needs no other water than the humidity carried by the sea to live.

Health Properties:

• A study published in the August 23, 2010, issue of Phytotherapy Research confirmed that rosemary does increase circulation by dilating arteries and noted that rosemary has antioxidant properties that reduced atherosclerosis risk in young healthy adults by improving serum activity.

• According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, rosemary has been shown to have antioxidant properties that can prevent free radicals from damaging cell membranes and altering DNA, which can result in cell death.

• Rosemary has been shown to increase the blood flow to the head and brain, improving concentration.

• Rosemary contains anti-inflammatory compounds that may make it useful for reducing the severity of asthma attacks.

• This herb is exceptionally rich in many B-complex group of vitamin, such as folic acid, pantothenic acid, pyridoxine, riboflavin.

• The herb extractions of rosemary when applied over scalp have stimulating function on the hair-bulbs and help preventing premature baldness. It forms an effectual remedy for the prevention of scurf and dandruff. [I have no clue what scurf is but the name conjures up enough.]

• Rosemary tea is a good remedy for removing nervous headache, colds and depression. [I’m drinking this stuff now and high as a kite. It’s potent.]

• Recent research is now revealing even more benefits attached to this rosemary, including its ability to help prevent cancer and age-related skin damage, boost the functioning of the liver and act as a mild diuretic to help reduce swelling.

• Many people gargle rosemary tea to help heal mouth ulcers, sores and as a mouth wash.

Cooking with Rosemary:

Whenever possible, choose fresh rosemary over the dried form of the herb since it is far superior in flavor.

Fresh rosemary herb should be stored in the refrigerator inside plastic bags. Dried rosemary should be kept in an air tight container and placed in a cool, dark and dry place where it will keep fresh for several months.

Finely chopped fresh rosemary is used in the preparation of delicious sauteed rosemary potatoes.

Rosemary complements fatty, strong-tasting meats such as lamb, pork, duck, and game. Add to casseroles, tomato sauces, baked fish, apples, summer wine cups, cordials, vinegars and oils.

Rosemary matches well with garlic and red wine. The spicy, pungent tough leaves of late season rosemary are strongly aromatic and peppery and will add to the roasting or grilling of meat. Use rosemary sprigs to flavor grilling charcoals or use sprigs to brush olive oil on meat and poultry before roasting.

Rosemary flowers are sweetly perfumed and delicious on salads, rice, pasta, or fruit salads.

Use the branch of rosemary to skewer meat and poultry before grilling. It infuses the food with the taste.

When burned, rosemary branches give off a distinct mustard smell, as well as a smell similar to that of burning wood, which can be used to flavor foods while barbecuing.

Random Facts and Tips about Rosemary:

• In ancient Greece, the smell of rosemary was thought to enhance one’s memory. Students used to wear a sprig of rosemary behind their ear when studying and then later when taking their exams.

• In Ancient Greece, people burned rosemary branches on the altars of the gods, considering it a sacred herb. The plant was also sacred for the Romans (who gave it its name) and Egyptians (the evidence to that was finding traces of rosemary in the pharaohs’ tombs.)

• The custom of burning rosemary branches has become a practice in hospitals in France – where it has been maintained until the 20th century – and used for cleaning the air.

• The goddess Aphrodite is associated with rosemary, as is the Virgin Mary, who was supposed to have spread her cloak over a white-blossomed rosemary bush when she was resting; according to legend, the flowers turned blue, the color most associated with Mary.

• It was said to be draped around Aphrodite when she rose from the sea, and was originally born of Ouranos’s semen. [Oh, mythology, you’re so weird.]

• Rosemary tea is a popular flavor drink in Mediterranean region.

• Rosemary can be used in place of rice at weddings. It’s the herb of remembrance (good for remembering vows) and smells lovely when people walk on it.

• Throw some rosemary in the fireplace on the outer edges of the burning wood and your space comes alive with a delightful, pine-scented aroma.

Recipes:

Tattooed Potatoes with Rosemary

1/3 to 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper
6 small fresh rosemary sprigs
3 russet potatoes, unpeeled, cut in half lengthwise

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Pour the olive oil into a medium-sized glass baking dish and add the salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Press a rosemary sprig or parsley leaf on the cut side of each potato half and place cut side down in the oil.

Note: A glass dish works well in this case because you can check for doneness by carefully holding the dish overhead and looking to see if the potatoes are browned. When you do this, be careful not to spill the hot oil. A metal pan will do, too, but testing for doneness will not be as easy.

Bake until the potatoes are nicely browned, 40 to 45 minutes. While the potatoes are cooking, using a spatula, gently move them every now and then to keep them from sticking. When they are ready, remove them from the pan, turning them flat side up and carefully leaving the pressed herb in place. Arrange on a platter and serve immediately.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Interactions:

If you have epilepsy, don’t take medicinal amounts of rosemary. The camphor in the herb could potentially aggravate seizures.

Pregnant women and those with high blood pressure should not take Rosemary extract. (However, the amounts that typically appear in food or cosmetics pose no risk.)

Antiplatelet and anticoagulant drugs (blood-thinners) — Rosemary may affect the blood’s ability to clot. It could interfere with any blood-thinning drugs you are taking, including:

• Warfarin (Coumadin)
• Clopidogrel (Plavix)
• Aspirin

ACE inhibitors — Rosemary may interfere with the action of ACE inhibitors taken for high blood pressure.

• Captpril (Capoten)
• Elaropril (Vasotec)
• Lisinopril (Zestril)
• Fosinopril (Monopril)

Diuretics (water pills) — Because rosemary can act as a diuretic, it can increase the effects of these drugs. That can raise your risk of dehydration.

• Furosemide (Lasix)
• Hydrocholorothiazide

Lithium — Because of its diuretic effects, rosemary might cause the body to lose too much water and the amount of lithium in the body to build up to toxic levels.

Diabetes — Rosemary may alter blood sugar levels and could interfere with any drugs taken to control diabetes.

Sources:

LiveandFeel.com

WHFoods

The Healthier Life

Bright Hub

What’s Cooking America

Livestrong

Harvest to Table

Urban Times

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 a local dive bar.

Contact: maryjane {at } freedomisgreen.com

If that dull Hallmark card with the trite and dusty expressions of motherly love is just not cutting it this year (did it ever?), consider sending this e-card, created by The Women’s Marijuana Movement.

As part of an ongoing monthly series, we’ll explore the great big world of herbs in general.

As you know, marijuana has numerous medicinal properties. And many of you are probably already hip to the other herbs out there that possess their own special healing and protective properties.

What you may not know is that herbs possess a more concentrated amount of antioxidants than you’ll get from fruits and vegetables alone. Not only that, but herbs often possess a wider array of antioxidants. So by integrating herbs into your diet, you are protecting your body from free radical damage in a substantial way.

The way I see it: if marijuana is part of a holistic lifestyle choice, then that lifestyle should include any ways we can return to nature as a method to heal and protect ourselves.

 

This week, the spotlight is on thyme.

Thymus vulgaris grows as a small, woody shrub with petite and flavorful gray-green leaves. There are up to 400 subspecies of thyme; common thyme and Spanish thyme are often used interchangeably for medicinal purposes. Thymol is the primary volatile oil constituent of thyme. It’s powerful health-supporting effects continue to unfold, after centuries of use.

 

Health Properties:

• A study at the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Milan in Italy has concluded that thymol has the ability to interfere with the formation of candida, a yeast that lives in your gut. (Candida can result in a serious condition called candidiasis, which causes a range of symptoms including chronic fatigue, thrush, abdominal bloating, depression and irritable bowel syndrome. Candida has reached epidemic proportions because of the large amounts of sugar and refined carbohydrates we typically consume.)

• In studies on aging in rats, thymol has been found to protect and significantly increase the percentage of healthy fats found in cell structures. In particular, the amount of DHA (an omega-3 fatty acid) in brain, kidney, and heart cell membranes was increased after supplementation with thyme.

• Thyme contains a variety of flavonoids (antioxidants found naturally in plants), increasing thyme’s antioxidant capacity. Combined with its status as a substantial source of manganese, thyme places very high on the list of antioxidant foods.

• The volatile oil components of thyme have also been shown to have antimicrobial activity against a host of different bacteria and fungi. Staphalococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli and Shigella sonnei are a few of the species against which thyme has been shown to have antibacterial activity.

• Thyme possesses expectorant and bronchial antispasmodic properties, making it useful in the treatment of acute and chronic bronchitis, whooping cough, and inflammation of the upper respiratory tract.

• A preliminary in-vitro study has determined the effectiveness of thymol, and other oil extracts in treating onychomycosis, the fungal infection of toe and fingernails.

• The vapors of essential oil of thyme and thymol have exhibited suppressive activity on molds from damp buildings and can be used for disinfection of moldy walls.

• Carvacrol, p-cymene, linalool, alpha-terpinene, and thymol are all ingredients derived from the essential oil of thyme and have been studied for their mosquito repellent properties (equal to, or more so, than commercial repellents).

Cooking with Thyme:

Restaurant critic Jeff Cox, a gardening and cooking guru, says if you have only one pot to use for an herb planting, plant thyme. And it’s one of the easier herbs to grow. (Trust me, I just look at plants and they wilt and die.)

Thyme, either dried or fresh, should be added near the end of the cooking process since heat can easily cause a loss of its delicate flavor.

Thyme can enhance the taste of:

• Pasta sauce
• Egg dishes
• Bean dishes
• Poached fish (place sprigs of thyme in the liquid)
• Soups and stocks
• Butters and mayonnaise

Random Facts about Thyme:

The Ancient Egyptians used thymol and carvacrol because of their ability to preserve mummies. Thymol and carvacrol are now known to kill bacteria and fungi, making thyme well suited for such purposes. (So if mummification is in your future, don’t forget thymol. Your mummy will remain fresh and clean.)

Thymol and carvacrol are extensively used in book binding because of its ability to kill spores in the books which needed to be rebound after damage from mold.

The English word “thyme” comes from the Latin thymus, derived from the Greek thymon, “courage.” It also means “to fumigate or cleanse”, possibly because of its use as an incense throughout time.

A soup recipe of 1663 recorded the use of thyme and beer to overcome shyness.

Scottish highlanders drank tea made of wild thyme for strength and courage and also to prevent nightmares.

Thymol, one of the active ingredients in thyme leaves, is still used in cough preparations.

Thyme tea can be used as a digestive tonic, for hangovers, and as an acne wash. (Good for partying teens with sensitive stomachs.)

Thymol was used as a powerful antiseptic chemical in World War I to disinfect battlefield wounds.

Thymol is one of the ingredients in the antibacterial Listerine mouthwash.

Thyme may have the ability to attract fairies. (Now that’s a real added bonus, in my opinion.)

Just as sage is often used, thyme can been burned to cleanse the air and ward off evil spirits.

Interactions:

Do not use thyme essential oil internally. For instructions on how to use thyme for medical conditions, read here.

Theoretically, thyme may decrease levels of thyroid hormone. Patients taking thyroid replacement therapy or anti-thyroid agents should use cautiously. Monitoring may be necessary.

Although not well studied in humans, thyme may interact with agents with estrogen or progesterone receptor activity. Examples of agents that may be affected include hormone replacement therapies and birth control pills.

Topical (applied on the skin) thymol may increase the absorption of 5-fluorouracil. Caution is advised in chemotherapy patients, as 5-fluorouracil is often used in cancer chemotherapy. Consult with a qualified healthcare professional, including a pharmacist, to check for interactions.

Although not well studied in humans, thyme may interact with herbs with estrogen or progesterone receptor activity. Caution is advised when combining thyme with other herbs and supplements with proposed hormonal effects, such as black cohosh.

Sources:

Sunland Herbs

Antioxidants for Health and Longevity

Integrative Practitioner

Vegetarian Nutrition Info

Health-Herbal.com

Healthier-Life.com

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 a local dive bar.

Contact: maryjane {at } freedomisgreen.com