NJ medical cannabis - Chuck Kwiatkowski, MS
Trenton- Republicans and Democrats have been making the news more often addressing medical marijuana in New Jersey.
Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts told the Newark Star-Ledger on Nov. 15 that the medical cannabis legislation would be a priority for the upcoming lame-duck sessions in Trenton.
Codey and Roberts say one big lame-duck goal is to make New Jersey the 14th state in the nation to legalize marijuana for people with debilitating illnesses. Corzine has said he would sign the bill; Christie said it needs more restrictions but supports the concept of medical marijuana.
"We need to provide compassionate medical marijuana use to people who are suffering," said Roberts. READ Newark Star-Ledger article in full
In the last four weeks some politicians have been voicing ever stronger support for cannabis related issues in the Garden State.
Two of the state Senators sponsoring The New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act recently asked for the Governor to grant a pardon on grounds of medical use. It is a particularly egregious case: For growing 17 cannabis plants multiple-sclerosis patient John Wilson is facing 15 years in state prison under a first-degree felony charge.
Senators Nicholas Scutari and Raymond Lesniak issued a press release from the Senate Majority office on October 27th asking for the pardon.
“It seems cruel and unusual to treat New Jersey’s sick and dying as if they were drug cartel kingpins. Moreover, it is a complete waste of taxpayer money having to house and treat an MS patient in a jail at the public’s expense,” said Senator Scutari, D-Union, Middlesex and Somerset. “Specifically, in the case of John Ray Wilson, the State is taking a fiscally irresponsible hard-line approach against a man who’s simply seeking what little relief could be found from the debilitating effects of multiple sclerosis. Governor Corzine should step in immediately and end this perversion of criminal drug statutes in the Garden State.”
“Without compassion and a sense of moral right and wrong, laws are worth less than the paper they’re printed on,” said Senator Lesniak, D-Union. “New Jersey’s tough criminal drug laws were never intended to be used against patients suffering from chronic and terminal medical conditions. The prosecutors and presiding judge have set up a scenario where Mr. Wilson is no different than a common street thug in the eyes of the law.” READ FULL RELEASE
This is the first time that legislators in any state have asked for such a pardon. The Senators are not asking that all charges be dropped, just the felony offense.
The Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey and NORML-NJ are supporting the cause to pardon John Wilson. The groups are planning a rally on December 14, 2009 at the Somerset County courthouse. An online letter to the Offices of the NJ Governor and Attorney General is available from NORML.
Two of the Assembly sponsors of the medical marijuana bill have also been weighing in the issue. Republican Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll was recently profiled for his support of safe access in the Randolph Reporter
"The government should not stand between a patient and his doctor," said Carroll, who is considered one of the state's most conservative legislators. "I see people in wheelchairs who say marijuana is their only way to get help." Randolph Reporter
Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, the sponsor of A804, has long been a vocal supporter of medical cannabis. His office weighed in on the change in stance by the American Medical Association last week.
"I commend The American Medical Association for having the courage to request that the status of marijuana be re-evaluated in order to enable advanced clinical research, development of cannabis-based medicines and alternate delivery methods," remarked Gusciora.
"With its pharmaceutical giants, the potential for New Jersey take the lead in new, breakthrough research is enormous," continued Gusciora, "Residents of the State, including those who suffer from chronic illness and those who are employed in the pharmaceutical sector, could recognize terrific benefits." READ IN FULL
And let us not forget that Governor elect Chris Christie had a change of heart on the issue of medical marijuana during the election debates. Christie went from full oppostion to supporting some form of cannabis access. In an interesting twist of fate, it was Rick Cusick a Board member of NORML-New Jersey and the Associate Publisher of High Times Magazine that ended up posing the question.
Medical marijuana is a mainstream and very active political issue on the local and national scale. It is positive politics too: 86% of New Jersey residents polled in favor of state authorized cannabis program. Even for politicians who don’t look at polls much, that one is hard to ignore.
The New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act S119/A804 is in its final legislative phase and must see a floor vote in the Assembly. Governor Corzine has repeatedly stated that he will sign the bill if it reaches his desk.
The strong and passionate language on the part of these elected officials is heartening. Such positive support does bode well for the future of the bill and for the many patients who could directly benefit from it.
Groups that support S119/A804: the New Jersey State Nurses Association; the New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians; the New Jersey Hospice and Palliative Care Organization; the New Jersey League for Nursing; the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Southern NJ and Northern NJ chapters; the Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey; The Drug Policy Alliance; NORML-New Jersey, and the American Civil Liberties Union.
More info about medical marijuana in New Jersey is available at www.cmmnj.org
11/16/09 by Chris Goldstein
Comments
If you think you may qualify for medical marijuana, try searching www.weedneedz.com - they have a directory of the closest physicians and dispensaries (searchable by zip code).
This is great news. Hopefully gov. Christie will get the ball rolling and give more governors the guts to leglaize marijuana use. Hopefully we can one day legalize marijuana and tax it and have related industries that create good jobs.
www.basinpipes.com
Help make push the bill into law. Contact your elected representatives. Remind them that the Federal Government will not prosecute medical marijuana patients that comply with state laws. Inform them that the American Medical Association has changed their 72 year old policy and now supports re-classifying marijuana off the CSA Schedule 1 list.
I don't buy this claim at all that Wilson was growing strictly for medicinal purposes. 17 plants would provide way more pot than he could possibly use himself. Regardless of how you feel about marijuana legalization for medical or recreational purposes, this case is bogus. I speak from the perspective of someone who has MS and who used marijuana recreationally for many years. I also live in NJ. Just my two cents.
Where can I find evidence that marijuana cures the pain that these patients suffer from?
It is increasingly clear any legislation enabling the use of marijuana as a medicine is premature and therefore should be tabled.
1. American Medical Association & Washington Post are calling for extensive federal research of marijuana's medicinal purpose(s).
2. American Medical Association refuses to support state-based medical marijuana programs & Washington Post calls for moratorium on new programs.
3. Washington Post's recognition the medical marijuana controversy may be moot in the near future as extrensive FDA sponsored clinical trials of a drug known as Sativex (cancer & MS) have or are near an end.
The A.M.A. House of Delegates have called for a review of the schedule I status of marijuana to allow for more research on the
potential medicinal uses of cannabinoids. The AMA refused to endorse state-based medical
marijuana programs.
Mr. Wilson appears to have a chronic illness. Thus, even for him, the issue of whether marijuana has a medicinal use must be a question for science and not a popularity contest resulting from the political promotions of special interests nor the litigations public relations campaign of a "superlawyer."
Its always good to know the names of the sponsores of the bill. However, The next time you're in a drug store look around at the safe, accurate, valid and reliable F.D.A. approved medicines, both prescription and over the counter, covering a wide range of illnesses. Then ask yourself do you want F.D.A. approved medicine or Ray Lesniak approved medicine?
AMA Agrees: Marijuana is Medicine
WHO The American Medical Association (AMA)
WHAT: Recognizes Medical Benefits of Marijuana, Urges Further Research
WHEN: November 10th, 2009
WHERE: Houston, Texas during AMA’s annual Interim Meeting of the House of Delegates
WHY: Marijuana has both already-demonstrated and future-promising medical utility
Largest and oldest U.S. physician-based group reverses long-held position on medical marijuana
Houston, TX -- The American Medical Association (AMA) voted today to reverse its long-held position that marijuana be retained as a Schedule I substance with no medical value. The AMA adopted a report drafted by its Council on Science and Public Health (CSAPH) entitled, "Use of Cannabis for Medicinal Purposes," which affirmed the therapeutic benefits of marijuana and called for further research.
The marijuana debate is not just about medicine. It's time to drive a wedge between the criminal drug dealers and our kids. Licensing, taxing, and regulating the distribution of marijuana, whether for medical or other purposes, is the surest way to put the criminal drug dealers out of business and protect our children from the money-hungry criminal element. It’s time to protect our children and take the marijuana business out of the hands of criminals. License, tax, and regulate the marijuana business, medical or otherwise. And while we’re at it, let’s implement a personal cultivation permit. Limit the size of the growing area or the number of plants, and put a small user-fee on it to cover administrative costs, something like a fishing license. Maybe high enough that there will be a little something left over for education or fixing the roads.
One possibility:$100 per year for a permit to cultivate a dozen plants.
It's a win-win.
Fred.....you have no idea what stage any of those 17 plants are in. People have plants at different stages so they always can collect from a ready plant. Just because he had 17 plants does not mean he had 17 plants ready to be harvested. Also, depending on the plant size you take about an ounce to 2 ounces form every plant. So really its not as much as you think.
I by the way was in a really bad accident at the age of 17. My femur went through my hip(shattered my hip) and the femur head broke in half after it was driven through my pelvis. I also have other injuries but not as bad as that one. I smoke everyday to deal with pain....ive tried perchocets with not as good of a result. And i hate the side effects of the drug...makes me really itchy. And i have seen many friends abuse perchocets and end up in methadone clinics.
Based on the reason marijuana was made illegal in the first place, intelligent people should repeal the law. To waste any more money keeping it illegal is stupid and is keeping the street gangs alive with all the money that they make. The only one's that really want to keep it illegal are the attorneys, rehab centers (which are mostly owned by retired cops) and all the other parisites that thrive on using the legal system.
The issue of whether marijuana has a medicinal use is a question for science to be answered with scientific certainty and not a popularity contest resulting from the political promotions of special interests. If the interest in marijuana is indeed medicinal then its time to walk the talk by deferring any pending legislation until scientific inquiry (such as with Sativex) demonstrates its use is safe, valid, accurate and reliable as well as administratively manageable: "However, the
patchwork of state-based systems that have been established for “medical marijuana” is woefully inadequate in establishing even rudimentary safeguards that normally would be applied to the appropriate clinical use of psychoactive substances."American Medical Association, REPORT 3 OF THE COUNCIL ON SCIENCE AND PUBLIC HEALTH (I-09).
1. The American Medical Association, LA Times & Washington Post are calling for extensive federal research of marijuana's medicinal purpose(s). The A.M.A. House of Delegates
Fred....I don't know if you are aware or not but federal medical marijuana patient Barbara Douglass receives 9 ounces of marijuana a month from the Federal Government to treat her MS. This says that our own government believes that a MS patient needs a minimum of 9 ounces a month to treat their illness. Can 17 plants guarantee 9 ounces of processed cannabis a month every month for the rest of your life? It is ignorance like this that makes getting out the truth ever more important.
Sorry I made a mistake on my last comment.
Barbara Douglass actually receives 9 ounces of marijuana every 25 days, so she really gets about 11 ounces a month.
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