On April 28th the NJ Senate Judiciary Committee approved the nomination of Mary O’Dowd as the new commissioner for the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS). If confirmed by the full Senate then O’Dowd will be in charge of the state’s Medicinal Marijuana Program. But during the hearing Senator Nicholas Scutari asked pointed questions about how the first six non-profit Alternative Treatment Centers to supply cannabis were selected.
The Newark Star-Ledger reports:
In comments before the hearing, Scutari called the process "a sham'' because several dispensary owners are backed by prominent Republicans.
During a break in the hearing, Scutari said he was surprised O'Dowd could not immediately answer some of his questions about the process. Scutari was a sponsor of the law that created the medical marijuana program.
Scutari said at the end of the hearing he would support O'Dowd's nomination, but made her promise she would return and discuss the program in greater detail. READ FULL
NJ DHSS Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner, Dr. Poonam Alaigh and Dr. Susan Walsh, offered surprise resignations in March. The pair stepped down from the top health positions just days after they finished the process to approve the six medical marijuana ATCs.
The teams that gained the first permits are impressive on paper. For example, Compassionate Sciences Inc. includes executives from the mainstream pharmaceutical industry, cannabis experts who already run facilities in Montana, a powerful political figure and a leading oncology professor.
Their approved application states: “Our mission at Compassionate Sciences is to establish a facility and product that meets a pharma-standard of palliative care.”
The details of the operation to achieve those goals were not revealed The NJ DHSS released over 130 of the 184 pages of thier application blank. Missing were financial details and information on the physical location of the site. But it does appear that most of the approved facilities, including Compassionate Sciences Inc, are planning intense investments into the research side of their business operations.
What DHSS did release were the resume-style biographies for the key players at Compassionate Sciences. So let’s meet some of the first people who may be able to legally grow, sell and research marijuana in the Garden State.
Compassionate Sciences ATC Senior Management Team
Richard Taney, Chief Executive Officer.
Mr. Taney is a chief executive with extensive experience in health care, medical technology and financial services. Mr.Taney assumed leadership of Compassionate Sciences after serving as CEO of Delcath Systems, Inc., (NASDAQ: DCTH), a medical technology company that developed a patented system for the targeted delivery of ultra-high dose chemotherapy to the liver for treatment of a variety of cancers. Under his leadership, Delcath Systems achieved widespread adoption by doctors and hospitals. Mr. Taney is also a Trustee of the Compassionate Sciences ATC.Jack Burkholder, Chief Financial Officer.
Mr. Burkholder is a consultant with more than 30 years of experience in international investment banking, corporate finance and real estate development. He has an expertise in managing complex projects involving close cooperation with governments at all levels and has served extensively in the public trust as a court-appointed receiver. Mr. Burkholder is active in his community as a member of the Real Estate Roundtable and the audit committee of his local school district. He graduated with a BS in Agriculture from Cornell University. Mr. Burkholder is also a Trustee of the Compassionate Sciences ATC.Michael Nelson, Chief Operating Officer.
Mr. Nelson is the founder of a highly successful international outfitting business who is also the owner and operator of one of the largest and most respected ATC’s in Montana. As a grower-operator over the last six years, he has developed experience in the building of ATCs, systems design,ATC employee orientation and training and management. Mr. Nelson’s cultivation center and multiple-location dispensaries have set a standard of excellence in serving qualified patients throughout the Central and Western regions of the State. Mr.Nelson brings to his work a background in sales, management, distribution and marketing of school products to universities and high schools across the American Northwest. He is active in the Bozeman area business community and as a volunteer in a sports program for the disabled. Mr. Nelson earned a BS in Business from the University of Colorado.Nicole Wagner, Master Grower.
Ms.Wagner is an accomplished government and academic analyst and researcher in the fields of sustainable agriculture, ecology, agronomy, statistics, engineering and economics. With an expertise in global and domestic agricultural policy, she has served as an international economist and crop assessment analyst at the U.S. Department of Agriculture as well as a researcher at Montana State University. Ms. Wagner has published numerous research studies and has a deep understanding of diversified agricultural systems including organic vegetable and dairy production, conventional corn, soybean, and small grains production. She is also a director of the non-profit Community Food Alliance and works with Field Day Farms, a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm that supports 30 families. Ms. Wagner earned her PhD. in Land Resources and Environmental Sciences from Montana State University and attended the University of Minnesota where she earned her Masters and BA in Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering. She developed her expertise as head grower at the Mr. Nelson’s medical Cannabis facility in Montana.Andrei Bogolubov, EVP of External Affairs.
Mr. Bogolubov is a communications professional who has served government, major multinationals, regional and emerging growth companies in a wide range of industries around the world. His expertise is in public affairs, business development and community outreach. Mr.Bogolubov’s healthcare, medical and pharmaceutical clients have included American Home Products, Bristol Myers Squibb, Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, Medical Excellence, The Michael J. Fox Foundation, Pfizer, Pharmacia & Upjohn and Value Options. He also has served in government as Assistant to the Secretary for Public Affairs at the US Department of the Interior where he was also the Department’s public affairs liaison to the White House. Mr. Bogolubov developed his expertise in community relations as Director of Policy & Communications at a major national grassroots citizens lobby. Mr. Bogolubov began his public sector career on the committee staff of the Connecticut State Legislature and later served as an aide to a US Congressman.Noel Palmer, Chemist (consultant).
Dr Noel Palmer is a respected chemist with an expertise in plant and soil chemistry. He is skilled in chromatographic and spectroscopy methods, specializing in the detection of heavy metals, pesticides, and herbicides in both soil and plant matter. He received his doctorate in analytical and soil chemistry from the University of Idaho. The focus of Dr. Palmer’s work was applying various analytical methods to look at soil systems and humic materials and their interactions with various inorganic compounds. Earlier, he managed a soil research lab at the University of Idaho. Dr. Palmer brought his skill in performing chromatographic separations to the analysis and study of Cannabis chemistry. He is a member of the board of the Alliance for Cannabis Science, an international community of Cannabis scientists. Dr Palmer is also the lab manager for Montana Botanical Analysis, a research lab in Montana focused on the study of Cannabis chemistry. His research has been published in more than 10 peer-reviewed scientific papers.Compassionate Sciences Trustees
Webster B. Todd, Jr.
Mr. Todd brings to Compassionate Sciences experience, judgment and insight he developed over the course of a distinguished career in government, politics and commercial aviation. As a public servant, he was a member of the White House staff and the New Jersey General Assembly as well as a State Department official and the Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board. Among his private sector achievements, Mr. Todd was the founder of Princeton Aviation Corp, Senior Director of Air Safety at the Airline Pilots Association and President of Frontier Airlines. Throughout his career, Mr. Todd has been active in the community including service as a Director of the New Jersey Commerce and Economic Growth Commission, a member of the Tewksbury Township Agricultural Advisory Board and as a New Jersey firefighter.Dr. Steven Patierno.
Dr. Patierno is a leader in the science and medicine of cancer who is Executive Director of the George Washington University Cancer Institute. He also serves as Vivian Gill Distinguished Professor of Oncology, GW School of Medicine; Professor of Pharmacology & Physiology, Genetics & Urology, The GW School of Public Health & Health Services; Health Sciences Professor of Environmental & Occupational Health; and Founding Director of the Molecular &Cellular Oncology Program. Dr. Patierno has over two decades of experience managing over $30 million of grants including large, complex biomedical research grants (both laboratory and population sciences), as well as community-based grants in cancer disparities, prevention and control, education and outreach, and survivorship. Dr. Patierno is also an accomplished teacher who was been the recipient of the GW Medical Student’s Golden Apple Award. He is the principal mentor to 20 Ph.D. graduate students and Program Director to over 50 graduate students as well as 20postdoctoral fellows, medical residents and undergraduate trainees. Dr. Patierno earned his PhD in pharmacology at the Graduate School of Biomedical Science at University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston and the MD Anderson Cancer Institute where he was awarded the prestigious Rosalie B. Hite Graduate Fellowship in Cancer Research for his work on the genetics of cancer causation.
Still, the deep pockets and political influence have not stopped NJ Attorney General Paula Dow from sending a letter to the US Department of Justice. That move last week essentially put six Garden State non-profits in the federal government’s harsh spotlight.
All six of the approved ATC applications, redacted by NJ DHSS, have been posted online here for public review: http://www.scribd.com/NJcannabisDocs
Read more at Freedomisgreen.com The Rise of Corporate Cannabis
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