Pubdate: Fri, 08 Mar 2013
Source: Times, The (Trenton, NJ)
Copyright: 2013 The Times
Contact:  http://www.nj.com/times/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/458

OVERSIGHT OR OBSTRUCTION? N.J. SENDS MIXED MESSAGES TO STATE'S LONE 
MEDICAL MARIJUANA CENTER

The state's only medical marijuana dispensary - Greenleaf Compassion 
Center in Montclair - is complaining about mixed messages from Gov. 
Chris Christie's administration.

It's hard to blame them.

Greenleaf, which opened in December, received a pair of letters from 
the state Health Department last month. The first threatened to shut 
down the facility. The second, received a day later, praised 
Greenleaf's efforts.

They're understandably confused. But what's been clear since Christie 
took office is that the former U.S. attorney has little interest in 
expediting the process of getting marijuana to those deemed medically in need.

The state approved six medical marijuana facilities two years ago, 
but Greenleaf is the only one to open its doors after passing a 
rigorous vetting process. New Jersey has 562 registered patients 
eligible to receive medical marijuana, but Greenleaf, which is only 
open two days a week, has been able to serve about 20 percent of them 
so far. There's currently a two-month wait for an appointment.

Montclair, in Essex County, is hardly a central location. From 
Hamilton, Mercer County, it's at least a two-hour round trip. From 
Hamilton, Atlantic County, that's a four-hour drive. The goal was to 
have two centers each in northern, central and southern New Jersey, 
but planned centers remained mired in the approval process.

"If they have to go through more regulatory hoops to make sure only 
the truly sick and suffering get this, then that is what we are going 
to do," Christie said last week after Greenleaf went public with its 
concerns. "We have 8.8 million people in this state, and there are 
only 560 people signed statewide. This is no crisis."

Centers planned for Woodbridge and Egg Harbor are the closest to 
finishing the background checks and obtaining permits to start 
growing marijuana. Other nonprofits have stumbled finding suitable 
locations to operate, and the state is considering whether to give 
other organizations a chance to take over.

Given what Greenleaf has endured in its first few months, the new 
centers should take notes and be prepared for a regulatory storm.

Greenleaf co-founder Joe Stevens told The Star-Ledger's Susan Livio 
that inspectors keeping an eye on the dispensary are "constantly 
asking us to deviate from policy - then they write us up for that."

"I think they want us to fail," Stevens said.

Given the program's lengthy delays and the contradictory letters just 
a day apart, he may be right.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom