NJ MED PUBLIC HEARING MONDAY MARCH 7 2011& PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD TILL APRIL 23!!!

TRENTON — For nearly two hours Monday, dozens of patients and their advocates — some through tears, others at the top of their lungs — vented their frustration at restrictions in the state’s proposed rules for New Jersey’s nascent medical marijuana program.

The only person who testified in favor of the health department’s rules was a spokesman from Meadowlands Hospital in Secaucus, who disclosed the hospital had created a nonprofit group and applied to be a licensed grower and seller of state-sanctioned marijuana.

The remaining 100 minutes of the hearing in Trenton was devoted criticizing the Christie administration’s proposals.

Riding a scooter to the podium, multiple sclerosis patient Sandy Faiola of Asbury Park questioned why the state wants to limit the potency of the drug sold to 10 percent tetrahydrocannabinol. "Cannabis with THC levels of 10 percent or less may help some patient’s needs but not mine," said Faiola, who suffers from severe muscle spasms and pain.

Medical marijuana's future in New Jersey Medical marijuana's future in New Jersey With so little information about how New Jersey's program will work, The Star-Ledger visited two states with very different cannabis laws -- New Mexico, which the New Jersey Legislature looks to as a model of a responsible medical marijuana program, and Colorado, which has lax laws and is seen by some as a state that has lost control. (Video by John Munson / The Star-Ledger) Watch video
She also said it was "excessive" to charge a $200 fee on caregivers who agree to retrieve a housebound patient’s marijuana from a dispensary.

"My primary caregiver already spends many hours a month helping me do things like travel to appointments and pick up medicine, food and other things I need. Asking her to also pay $200 for a New Jersey permit in order to help me get this medicine is wrong," Faiola said.

Crohn’s disease sufferer Stephen Cuspilich of Southampton questioned why doctors must take courses in drug addiction, recommend pot for patients only after traditional remedies have failed, and promise to wean patients off marijuana as quickly possible.

"You’re putting these flaming hoops and hurdles in front of everybody to get this medication — me and everyone else,’’ Cuspilich said. "You need to stop thinking about the business of the law and think about the intent of the law, which is compassion.’’

Lobbyist Raj Mukherji, who represents Meadowlands Hosptial and its new organization, Compassion Care Centers of America Foundation, complimented the administration for planning to gather data on how the drug helps patients and what strain and potency works best.

This "clinically-based medical model, focused on patient outcomes and data analysis, sets New Jersey apart from the other states," he said. He said the administration should not limit the number of plant strains to six because more variety would make it easier to "measure clinical outcomes."

The hearing, though required before the state can adopt new rules, might be for naught. Democrats who control the Legislature are close to overturning the health department’s regulations, and either order the administration to start over or writing the rules itself.

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Posted on Sunday, August 22, 2010 4:30PM
With so little information about how New Jersey's program will work, The Star-Ledger visited two states with very different cannabis laws -- New Mexico, which the New Jersey Legislature looks to as a model of a responsible medical marijuana program, and Colorado, which has lax laws and is seen by some as a state that has lost control. (Video by John Munson / The Star-Ledger)

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The hearing, though required before the state can adopt new rules, might be for naught. Democrats who control the Legislature are close to overturning the health department’s regulations, and either order the administration to start over or writing the rules itself.

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The six legally-sanctioned growers and sellers for New Jersey's medical marijuana have just been announced by the state health department.
They are:
Breakwater Alternative Treatment Center, Corp., Ocean, Central Region; Board of Trustees/Officers: Richard Lefkowitz, CEO; H. Alexander Zaleski, COO. The ATC would be located in Manalapan, Monmouth County.
• Compassionate Care Centers of America Foundation Inc. (CCCAF), Jersey City, Central Region; Board of Directors: David Weisser, Michael Weisser and Anastasia Burlyuk. The ATC would be located in New Brunswick, Middlesex County.
• Compassionate Care Foundation Inc., West Trenton, Southern Region; Board of Trustees: William J. Thomas, David Knowlton, James C. Herrmann, Ann Marie Hill, Jeffrey Warren, JoAnn Lange, Mark Dumoff. The ATC would be located in Bellmawr, Camden County
• Compassionate Sciences, Inc. ATC, Sea Cliff, NY, Southern Region; Board of Trustees, CEO Richard Taney, Dr. Steven Paterno, CFO Jack Burkolder; Webster Todd. The location of the ATC is undetermined, but will be located in either Burlington or Camden County

Medical marijuana's future in New Jersey
With so little information about how New Jersey's program will work, The Star-Ledger visited two states with very different cannabis laws -- New Mexico, which the New Jersey Legislature looks to as a model of a responsible medical marijuana program, and Colorado, which has lax laws and is seen by some as a state that has lost control. (Video by John Munson / The Star-Ledger)
Watch video
• Foundation Harmony, Cliffside Park, Northern Region; Board of Directors: Maria Karavas, Ida Umanskaya, Margarita Ivanova and Dmitri Bajanov. The ATC would be in Secaucus, Hudson Countu
• Greenleaf Compassion Center, Montclair, Northern Region; Board of Trustees: Joseph Stevens, president, CEO; Jordan A. Matthews, Robert J. Guarino. The ATC would be in Montclair, Essex County
The state health department released the winning applicants today, despite the Legislature's intent to repeal the medical marijuana program rules draft by the Christie administration. The law's Senate sponsors said they would rather overturn the proposed rules and start over, delaying the start of the program, than allow such restrictive regulations to move forward.

The New Jersey Compassionate Use Marijuana Act requires the health department to license two "alternative treatment centers each in the north, central and southern parts of the state, for a total of six. These six centers must be incorporated as nonprofit agencies, according to the state rules.

Health and Senior Services Commissioner Poonam Alaigh expects a whole lot more from the selected dispensaries than just cultivating, packaging and selling their crop, and running a commercially viable operation. She expects centers to track patient data, including which strains they are using, and how much, and the medical "outcome'' — the benefits and side affects of using medical marijuana.

The state required bidders to pay an $20,000 application, with the promise it would return all but $2,000 to the unselected candidates. Applicants had to show the centers' location is not in a drug-free school zone, and conforms to local zoning of the applicants have applied for a variance to permit the operation, according to the bidding rules.

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decarboxylator said:

Which ones have direct ties?

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brotherindica said:

Read this the other day. I feel sorry for the citizens of NJ, pretty fucking pathetic of their state gov. NJ, where the governor who bad mouthed medical marijuana/system then gives all the jobs to his cronies......

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Gov. Christie to delay implementing N.J.'s medical marijuana law
Published: Thursday, June 16, 2011, 9:00 PM Updated: Friday, June 17, 2011, 6:25 PM
Statehouse Bureau Staff By Statehouse Bureau Staff The Star-Ledger
— Gov. Chris Christie last night said he won’t allow medical marijuana for chronically ill patients until the federal government assures him they won’t prosecute anyone for working in the program. It is a new stipulation by the governor, who has been accused of intentionally trying to delay the law.

"The federal government is saying medical marijuana is against the law," Christie said in an appearance on the "On the Line" call-in show, which was televised tonight on New Jersey Network and streamed live on NJ.com. "Until I get that assurance, I cannot ask people to do things that they might get prosecuted by federal prosecutors."

"What happens if they get arrested and I ordered them to do it, that’s wrong," Christie said.
Christie said his office has written two letters to U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman and not received a response.

Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer), a sponsor of the medical marijuana law, said he wasn’t aware the governor had put a halt to rolling out the medical marijuana law.

"I thought the program was moving forward. It was the whole reason we compromised," Gusciora said, referring to an agreement he struck with the administration that would curb some of the components of the law that Christie said were too permissive.

"It’s disappointing — he should go ahead. It’s more of his national ambitions getting the better of him,’’ Gusciora said.

Gusciora said he intended to introduce legislation next week that would decriminalize the simple possession of marijuana, similar to laws enacted in Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts.

State Attorney General Paula Dow has been waiting since April for U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to explain whether people who legitimately work to make medical marijuana available would be shielded from federal prosecution. Possession and distribution of the drug is a federal crime, even though 16 states passed laws making it available to select patients.

Dow's letters were addressed to the U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and copied to New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman. Fishman's office has repeatedly referred all media inquires to Holder's office in Washington.

"The Department has received the letters and is currently reviewing and formulating a response, which will be offered in short order,'' Holder's spokeswoman Jessica Smith said.

On Friday, state Department of Health and Senior Services spokeswoman Donna Leusner briefly expanded on the governor's comments from the night before. "We are continuing our work on the program, but are waiting for clarification on the application of federal law,'' Leusner said. She declined to comment further.

Letters from U.S. Attorneys’ offices responding to similar inquiries in Washington state and Oakland, Ca. have repeated earlier assertions by Holder that patients legally using a program would not be targeted but blanket immunity would not be extended to program operators.

Christie was accused of trying to hold up implementation of the law, signed by former Gov. Jon Corzine on his last day in office. After a compromise on rules was struck, the administration selected who will sell and grow for the program.

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About a year and a half after then Gov. Jon Corzine signed New Jersey’s medical marijuana law, it still awaits implementation.

Since former Gov. Corzine signed the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act, the Christie administration has imposed restrictions and regulations that muffle the simple legislative intent of providing some relief to state residents suffering unbearable pain.

And even though the governor has prevailed on several facets of the program — including limits on the drug’s potency and restrictions on available strains, as well as a marathon of rules and restraints on access and distribution points — he is reluctant to proceed.

The program, considered to have the most careful and stringent regulations in the country, was to have started in July 2010. After several delays, the new target date was July 2011. At this point, eight days and counting, it looks unlikely.

Having gained most of the concessions he sought, the governor now hesitates due to the possibility of U.S. prosecution. Although several states have programs in place, dispensation of medical marijuana is against federal law. However, the “Ogden Memo,” from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, guides federal officials to leave alone those medical marijuana operations complying with state law.

It is true that federal agents have raided pot shops in Montana, Washington and California as they try to get a handle on dispensaries proliferating with little regulation.
However, there is a vast difference between those operations and the ones that New Jersey has planned. Some dispensaries in California and Colorado, for instance, have their products labeled with catchy names and lined up on shelves like an old-fashioned apothecary. Operators of the trendy boutiques where “walk-ins are welcome” are suspected of illegally selling to customers without proven medical needs.
Contrast that with New Jersey, where the law provides for just six grower-dispensers to start. The clinics would not be able to advertise their prices; their signs could not specify that they’re providing marijuana; and patients would have to show long-term relationships with doctors who recommend the drug. The carefully screened proprietors will not be selling bongs.

While Gov. Christie waits for assurances from federal authorities that New Jersey will not be the scene of such raids, such a guarantee is about as unlikely as the possibility of federal agents descending on the utilitarian, tightly regulated dispensaries the state has planned.

The governor’s fears are unfounded. They are prolonging the pain of hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans who look to the state to carry out its own law.

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June 29, 2011

MEMORANDUM FOR UNITED STATES ATTORNEYS

FROM: James M. Cole Deputy Attorney General

SUBJECT: Guidance Regarding the Ogden Memo in Jurisdictions Seeking to Authorize Marijuana for Medical Use

Over the last several months some of you have requested the Department’s assistance in responding to inquiries from State and local governments seeking guidance about the Department’s position on enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) in jurisdictions that have under consideration, or have implemented, legislation that would sanction and regulate the commercial cultivation and distribution of marijuana purportedly for medical use. Some of these jurisdictions have considered approving the cultivation of large quantities of marijuana, or broadening the regulation and taxation of the substance. You may have seen letters responding to these inquiries by several United States Attorneys. Those letters are entirely consistent with the October 2009 memorandum issued by Deputy Attorney General David Ogden to federal prosecutors in States that have enacted laws authorizing the medical use o f marijuana (the “Ogden Memo”).

The Department of Justice is committed to the enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act in all States. Congress has determined that marijuana is a dangerous drug and that the illegal distribution and sale of marijuana is a serious crime that provides a significant source of revenue to large scale criminal enterprises, gangs, and cartels. The Ogden Memorandum provides guidance to you in deploying your resources to enforce the CSA as part of the exercise of the broad discretion you are given to address federal criminal matters within your districts.

A number of states have enacted some form of legislation relating to the medical use of marijuana. Accordingly,the Ogden Memo reiterated to you that prosecution of significant traffickers of illegal drugs, including marijuana, remains a core priority, but advised that it is likely not an efficient use of federal resources to focus enforcement efforts on individuals with cancer or other serious illnesses who use marijuana as part of a recommended treatment regimen consistent with applicable state law, or their caregivers. The term “caregiver” as used in the memorandum meant just that: individuals providing care to individuals with cancer or other serious illnesses, not commercial operations cultivating, selling or distributing marijuana.

The Department’s view of the efficient use of limited federal resources as articulated in the Ogden Memorandum has not changed. There has, however, been an increase in the scope of commercial cultivation, sale, distribution and use of marijuana for purported medical purposes. For example, within the past 12 months, several jurisdictions have considered or enacted legislation to authorize multiple large-scale, privately-operated industrial marijuana cultivation centers. Some of these planned facilities have revenue projections of millions of dollars based on the planned cultivation of tens of thousands of cannabis plants.

The Ogden Memorandum was never intended to shield such activities from federal enforcement action and prosecution, even where those activities purport to comply with state law. Persons who are in the business of cultivating, selling or distributing marijuana, and those who knowingly facilitate such activities, are in violation of the Controlled Substances Act, regardless of state law. Consistent with resource constraints and the discretion you may exercise in your district, such persons are subject to federal enforcement action, including potential prosecution. State laws or local ordinances are not a defense to civil or criminal enforcement of federal law with respect to such conduct, including enforcement of the CSA. Those who engage in transactions involving the proceeds of such activity may also be in violation of federal money laundering statutes and other federal financial laws.

The Department of Justice is tasked with enforcing existing federal criminal laws in all states, and enforcement of the CSA has long been and remains a core priority.

cc: Lanny A. Breuer Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division
B. Todd Jones United States Attorney District of Minnesota Chair, AGAC
Michele M. Leonhart Administrator Drug Enforcement Administration
H. Marshall Jarrett Director Executive Office for United States Attorneys
Kevin L. Perkins Assistant Director Criminal Investigative Division Federal Bureau of Investigations

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BREAKING: NJ Gov. Christie – Medical Marijuana Press Conference
July 19, 2011 By Chris Goldstein 1 Comment

7/19/2011 - Governor Chris Christie called a surprise press conference today to address the stalled medical marijuana law. Taking full responsibility, he has decided to allow six Alternative Treatment Centers to move ahead.

“I have been struggling – as has my administration - to try and find a way to accomplish what I wanted to accomplish…which is to provide compassionate treatment to people who are suffering in a way that will not expose them, the operators of our dispensaries or employees of the State of New Jersey to criminal liability.”

Governor Christie is a former US Attorney and spent a significant amount of time discussing the intersections and conflicts between state and federal laws.

But, in the end, Christie confirmed that the law was moving ahead, “I have instructed the Commissioner of Health to move forward as expeditiously as possible to implement the [program].”

The full press conference video is below.

This is a breaking story – updates soon.

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doctors must take courses in drug addiction, recommend pot for patients only after traditional remedies have failed, and promise to wean patients off marijuana as quickly possible

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that attorney general memo said:

The term “caregiver” as used in the memorandum meant just that: individuals providing care to individuals with cancer or other serious illnesses, not commercial operations cultivating, selling or distributing marijuana

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Attorney General Paula Dow sent letters to federal officials on April 19th asking them if they intend to punish anyone associated with New Jersey’s Medicinal Marijuana Program. The attorney general even suggested ways that New Jerseyans might be punished—“civil suit or criminal prosecution,” the letters said.

A more appropriate approach would have been for the attorney general to tell the federal officials that if they dare to interfere with New Jersey’s medical marijuana program, she will sue them and fight them all the way to the Supreme Court, where she will win. The U.S. Supreme Court has already acknowledged (in the Garden Grove decision) that states have the right to determine the proper practice of medicine within each state. In the Garden Grove case the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a lower court’s decision that said: "Congress enacted the Controlled Substances Act to combat recreational drug abuse and curb drug trafficking. Its goal was not to regulate the practice of medicine, a task that falls within the traditional powers of the states.”

Ken Wolski, executive director of CMMNJ said, “There can be no doubt that every aspect of New Jersey’s medical marijuana program concerns access to physician-recommended medicine by desperately ill patients. The 110 pages of regulations promulgated by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services to enact the Medicinal Marijuana Program is a monument to overly-cautious bureaucratic detail. No one could possibly confuse it with drug abuse and drug trafficking. The attorney general should instead be insisting that the federal government reschedule marijuana from its absurd Schedule I status.”

Schedule I drugs have no accepted medical uses in the U.S. New Jersey—along with 14 other states and the District of Columbia—acknowledged medical uses for marijuana through legislation. Another dozen states are considering similar legislation. “It is the federal government that is wrong in this, not New Jersey. State officials should not look to the feds for guidance on medical marijuana,” Wolski added.

Ken Wolski, RN, MPA, Executive Director, Coalition for Medical Marijuana--New Jersey, Inc.
219 Woodside Ave., Trenton, NJ 08618
609.394.2137 www.cmmnj.org [email protected]

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NJ's First Pot Shop Coming To Rural Town

Updated: Thursday, 01 Sep 2011, 6:29 AM EDT
Published : Thursday, 01 Sep 2011, 6:21 AM EDT

CHESTERFIELD TOWNSHIP, N.J. - New Jersey's first foray into medicinal marijuana is coming to our area.

The Garden State's first medical marijuana growing center is on its way to Chesterfied Township, Burlington County.

Fox 29's Chris O'Connell has more on the controversial new cash crop coming to the farming community.

Lawmakers say medical marijuana could boost New Jersey's economy. Nationwide, it's a $20-billion industry.

That's not just from sale of marijuana. There's also a large market for devices to smoke it with, plus trade shows and conventions that will come to the state.

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New Jersey’s Medical Marijuana Centers Struggle to Locate

9/2/2011 – Several news sources offered conflicting reports that one of New Jersey’s first Alternative Treatment Centers for cannabis was going to start building a facility.

Fox29 in Philadelphia declared:

The Garden State’s first medical marijuana growing center is on its way to Chesterfield Township, Burlington County. Read full

But the local Burlington County Times found out that the plans were not so firm:

Representatives from a West Trenton-based alternative treatment center have informed officials that they’re scouting locations in the township for a growing facility, but have not named a specific location nor submitted a site plan application to the Planning Board.

Compassionate Care Foundation Inc. canceled plans to appear before the Township Committee several weeks ago and has not communicated since, said Mayor Larry Durr, acknowledging the many unanswered questions about the plan. Read full

Chesterfield is a rural, farming community near McGuire Air Force Base.

Gov. Christie’s administration removed plans for home delivery of medical marijuana. Unless that restriction is lifted, patients or a designated caregiver must go to an ATC to pick up medicine.

This isn’t the first time that Compassionate Care Foundation has run into location issues. In March the company had announced plans to build in Bellmawr, NJ. That was apparently shocking news the mayor and local officials, who eventually turned away the ATC.

Having a relationship with the local community was supposed to be an important part of the scoring process for the NJ ATC applicants.

A prominent member of Compassionate Care Foundation’s Board of Trustees, David Knowlton, was an acting Commissioner of the state Department of Health and Senior Services. NJ DHSS is the oversight entity for the medical marijuana program. Knowlton was also a member of Chris Christie’s gubernatorial transition team.

In fact, three of the six ATCs have very close ties back to Governor Christie, who has stated many times that he does not like the safe access law.

Gov. Christie suspended the operations at all of the ATCs for several months. Then, at a widely covered press conference on July 19th, Christie promised that state-regulated cannabis would be available to patients by December 2011.

In order to reach that goal the ATCs would need to start growing in the next eight weeks. As of this writing, none of the six ATCs have confirmed a physical location.

One ATC, Greenleaf Compassion Center, has plans to build in Montclair, NJ. On the surface they seem to have the most local support. Former mayor Jerry Fried, Montclair State University and some sitting city council members have all backed the concept. Still, an actual location for Greenleaf has not been announced.

The New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act was signed into law in January 2010. Since that time the underground cannabis market and secretive, personal cultivation remain the only points of access for NJ residents with qualifying medical conditions.

Read more at Freedomisgreen.com

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