Pubdate: Sat, 17 Aug 2013
Source: Trentonian, The (NJ)
Copyright: 2013 Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.trentonian.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1006
Author: Angela Delli Santi, Associated Press
Page: A2

NJ GOVERNOR: EASE ACCESS TO KIDS' MEDICAL POT

TRENTON (AP) - New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie agreed Friday to give 
chronically ill children easier access to medical marijuana, but he 
was unwilling to go as far as state lawmakers wanted.

The Republican governor conditionally vetoed a bill on the topic, 
saying in the document, "Parents, and not government regulators, are 
best suited to decide how to care for their children."

He said he agreed with provisions that would allow production of 
ingestible forms of pot at state-approved dispensaries and to allow 
dispensaries to grow more than three strains of the drug. But he 
struck a part of the bill that would have dropped a requirement that 
a psychiatrist and pediatrician sign off before children are allowed 
medical marijuana. He said he wanted to keep in some safeguards for 
young patients.

The bill now goes back to the Legislature. If lawmakers make the 
changes Christie requested, it will become law. It was not 
immediately clear when lawmakers may take it up, but the state Senate 
does have a voting session scheduled for Monday.

Sen. Nick Scutari, one of the sponsors of the bill, said he's pleased 
that children would be given access to edible marijuana in strains 
appropriate for their medical needs, but concerned that psychiatric 
review is an unnecessary hurdle for parents. He said he will review 
the conditional veto before discussing with fellow lawmakers how to proceed.

Like the 19 other states that allow medical marijuana, New Jersey 
lets children use it. But unlike all but a few, the state law and 
regulations currently in place - considered perhaps the most 
stringent among states that allow medical pot at all - have 
additional hurdles for young patients.

They must have a pediatrician and psychiatrist sign off on their use. 
And if one of those doctors is not registered with the state 
medicinal cannabis program, they would need a third physician to 
recommend the drug.

The bill to ease access sparked a new round of debate between 
Christie and medical marijuana advocates, many of whom doubt that he 
wants the state's fledgling pot-for-patients program to succeed.

It attracted broader attention this week when parent John Wilson 
confronted the governor during a campaign stop in a diner. Wilson 
believes his 2-year-old daughter, Vivian, would benefit by using a 
certain form and strain of pot for Dravet syndrome, a rare and 
sometimes deadly form of epilepsy.

In a moment captured on video that made news shows and websites, 
Wilson told the governor, "Please don't let my daughter die."

Christie, who has raised concerns that it could be adults using pot 
recommended for their children, told him, "I know you think it's 
simple, but it's not," during their brief exchange.

Wilson and his wife, Meghan, who live in Scotch Plains, said in a 
statement Friday that they are disappointed Christie "decided to make 
it so difficult for parents, who are already enduring tremendous pain 
and heartache, to get approval for such a safe and simple medication."

They said it's not fair that other drugs can be prescribed for 
children without additional doctors signing off.

The changes Christie is willing to make could enable children like 
Vivian to get the form and strain of pot that could help them by 
lifting limits on how many strains of marijuana dispensaries can grow 
and by allowing ingestible forms that kids could take without smoking.

Currently, New Jersey allows dispensaries to grown only three strains 
of pot, and that has made it unlikely that the kind Vivian's family 
says she needs will be made available. John Wilson said other 
children with Dravet have benefited from a form high in a compound 
known as CBD and low in THC, the chemical that gets pot users high. 
Wilson said the drug can work not only to relieve pain or build up an 
appetite - two things medical pot is often used for - but as a 
medicine to treat Dravet.

New Hampshire, Delaware and Illinois have multiple-doctor 
requirements for kids to get pot, said Chris Goldstein, a marijuana 
activist who is on the board of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana 
of New Jersey. "This is something that originated in New Jersey and 
is likely to be copied in other states," he said.

Roseanne Scotti, New Jersey director of the Drug Policy Alliance, 
said lifting the limit on how many strains of marijuana plants New 
Jersey growers can produce will be helpful for other patients because 
it will allow "real innovation and better options." Medical marijuana 
activists say different types of the drug work for different 
conditions and patients.

New Jersey now has just one operating legal dispensary with a second 
expected to open in September.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom