Gov. Murphy greatly expanded New Jersey's medical marijuana program Tuesday, opening the door to tens of thousands of new patients and allowing the five dispensaries spread across the state to add satellite retail centers and cultivation facilities. The governor added to the list of ailments that qualify for a cannabis prescription. He also cleared the way for any doctor in the state to prescribe cannabis, ending a system in which only those physicians who registered -- and thus, joined a publicly available list of providers - -- could do so. He said some doctors had been reluctant to participate in the program because they viewed joining the list as a stigma. [continues 670 words]
When New Jersey State Sen. Nicholas Scutari introduced a 62-page bill and primer on how to legalize marijuana almost one year ago, he chuckled when asked if it had a prayer of passing. The legal sale of recreational marijuana had not yet begun in any other East Coast state, and yes, Chris Christie, the Republican governor at the time, had threatened a veto. The bill, Scutari insisted, would give lawmakers time to digest and debate the issue so that a palatable package would be "ready for the next governor." [continues 1067 words]
TRENTON -- The first New Jersey legislative hearing on the legalization of marijuana held since Gov. Murphy took office -- after he promised his support -- unfolded Monday before more than 100 people. More than a dozen experts traveled from as far as Colorado and Massachusetts to office advice on legalization, a topic gaining traction after Murphy, a Democrat, replaced Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican adamantly opposed to it, in January. Several lawmakers are working on legalization bills, but none has come up for a vote and some legislators say they are trying to get a consensus. [continues 580 words]
The medical marijuana dispensary that opened in Camden County in September 2015 is the busiest of the five that have opened in New Jersey since the program began seven years ago, according to a Department of Health annual report. Compassionate Sciences Alternative Treatment Center, in an industrial park in tiny Bellmawr, served 2,762 patients and sold nearly 885 pounds of cannabis in 2016, the report said. The state had nearly 10,800 registered patients as of the end of last year. [continues 603 words]
In what could be a precedent-setting decision, a New Jersey administrative law judge has ordered an insurance company to pay for medical marijuana for an injured worker who suffers from lingering neuropathic pain in his left hand after an accident while using a power saw at an 84 Lumber outlet in 2008. Judge Ingrid L. French took testimony from the worker, a 39-year-old Egg Harbor Township man, and a Cherry Hill psychiatrist/neurologist who said the marijuana treatment was appropriate because it would allow the patient to reduce his prescription opiate use and lower the risk of serious side effects. [continues 742 words]
The day after Gov. Christie signed a bill allowing vets to use marijuana for post-traumatic stress syndrome, he was greeted by cheers - - and some boos - as he exited his black SUV and walked to the entrance of the Trenton Statehouse. In a video clip posted on Facebook last month, he was more stunned by the group that was clapping. Over the last two years, the group of five to 30 protesters would occupy a spot near the door most Thursdays and deliver speeches about the virtues of treating health problems with cannabis. They would set up orange traffic cones as a nod to Bridgegate and the roadblocks they said the Republican governor had created to keep the medical marijuana program from growing. Christie had called the program a front for the legalization of recreational marijuana and was against expanding it. [continues 596 words]
MILITARY VETERANS and New Jersey lawmakers are lobbying Gov. Christie with new vigor to approve a bipartisan bill that would allow marijuana use to treat posttraumatic stress disorder. In the past, the Christie administration had rebuffed requests to add the condition to the list of ailments that qualify for cannabis use. But Christie did not rule out signing the bill when asked about it two weeks ago at a news conference. "I'll read it," he said, softening a bit from his oft-repeated previous statements that he would veto any expansion of the six-year-old medical marijuana program. [continues 802 words]
Advocates Say Recreational Use Would Pay Off. New Jersey would gain at least $300 million a year in taxes if it followed the lead of four other states and legalized marijuana for recreational use, according to a report released Tuesday by New Jersey Policy Perspective and New Jersey United for Marijuana Reform. The revenue projection is based on imposing an eventual 25 percent sales tax on consumers, who would have to be at least 21 years old. The organizations represent a coalition of advocacy groups working for legalization in New Jersey. They analyzed available data on the number of people who purchase the drug illegally in New Jersey, and examined the experiences of states that recently approved legalization. [continues 422 words]
Awful Pain, but Still She Struggled With Decision. Dana Kelley recalls the exact moment when her neurologist suggested she try medical marijuana. The retired Army Intelligence linguist said it caused her emotional upheaval and led her to question her willingness to continue living in constant pain. Kelley's neck and back were severely fractured in a car crash three years ago in her hometown of Pennsville, Salem County. She underwent five surgeries, including a fusion of a large part of her spinal cord, and was prescribed morphine and opiates. [continues 1087 words]
Advocates are happy it was named, but not about the delay in naming it or the people on it. New Jersey's health commissioner recently appointed a panel that will decide whether chronic pain, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other conditions should be added to the list of a dozen ailments that qualify a patient to buy medical marijuana in the state. Patient advocates have been pressing for nearly four years to have the list expanded, saying it is too restrictive and prevents many severely ill patients from obtaining cannabis. [continues 825 words]
State Says Prices Are 37% Higher Than Selected Other States. As Pennsylvania moves closer to adopting a medical marijuana program, New Jersey has released a report on its six-year-old program that says its dispensaries charge the highest price for an ounce of marijuana on average, compared with other states with similar programs. The Department of Health report said the five dispensaries operating statewide charge an average of $489 per ounce, about 37 percent more than the average price in Arizona, New Mexico, Vermont, Maine, and Rhode Island. Most of these states have a cost-of-living index of 10 percent or less than New Jersey, said the report, released this month. [continues 530 words]
As Pennsylvania moves closer to adopting a medical marijuana program, New Jersey has released a report on its six-year-old program that says its dispensaries charge the highest price for an ounce of marijuana on average, compared with other states with similar programs. The Department of Health report said the five dispensaries operating statewide charge an average of $489 per ounce, about 37 percent more than the average price in Arizona, New Mexico, Vermont, Maine, and Rhode Island. Most of these states have a cost-of-living index of 10 percent or less than New Jersey, said the report, released this month. [continues 533 words]
Nationwide, the Numbers Have Dropped. Some Critics Point to a Crackdown Spurred by Governor. As public acceptance of marijuana use grows in the United States, nationwide arrests for simple possession of pot have dropped in recent years. New Jersey is going in the opposite direction. Marijuana arrests in the state jumped 10 percent in 2012 and 2013, according to the latest New Jersey State Police Uniform Crime Reports. In fact, the 24,765 arrests made for possessing small amounts of marijuana in 2013 is the highest number in 20 years, and nearly double the amount in 1993, when the state's population was 12 percent less, based on state police statistics and an analysis by the ACLU of New Jersey. In the five years prior to 2013, arrests had hovered around 22,000. [continues 901 words]
While Opposition Looks Strong, a Coalition Hopes the State Will Be Next to Allow Recreational Sales. This is bigger than Gov. Christie, and even Gov. Christie says the war on drugs has failed. ... I think he would be open to discussion about it. Richard Smith, president of the NAACP New Jersey State Conference A coalition of civil liberties and anti-discrimination groups has joined with prosecutors, police, medical professionals, and political activists to launch a campaign to make New Jersey the next state in the nation to legalize marijuana. [continues 907 words]
Jennie Stormes Said Her Son Has Life-Threatening and Frequent Seizures. She's Held Weekly Protests. A nurse who has staged weekly protests about New Jersey's troubled medical marijuana program is joining an exodus of families with ill children for Colorado. Courtesy of Jim Miller Jennie Stormes organized weekly protests against medical marijuana rules she says are too restrictive. Jennie Stormes of Hope, Warren County, said she planned to move in a few weeks because she is "tired of being angry and fighting against Gov. Christie" to convince him that her severely sick son cannot get the relief that cannabis might provide because of the state's numerous restrictions. [continues 581 words]
Lighting Up the Docket Once Again. History should decide, not the courts, whether Chris Goldstein and Don DeZarn - two New Jerseyans who each lit up a handrolled marijuana cigarette during a protest at Independence National Historical Park last year - belong in the same pantheon as Mohandas K. Gandhi, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Harvey Milk, and Allen Ginsberg, a federal judge said in a caustic written opinion issued this week. In her 10-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Cynthia M. Rufe in Philadelphia rejected appeals filed by Goldstein, 38, of Willingboro, and DeZarn, 48, of East Windsor, who argued that identical two-year probationary terms and $3,000 fines imposed by a lower court were harsh and that they should not have been ordered to stay away from future marijuana protests at the park, which Goldstein had organized. [continues 701 words]
She Protests Weekly for Changes in the State's Medical- Marijuana Program. Two high-placed advisers to Gov. Christie recently met with a pediatric nurse who has been staging weekly rallies at the statehouse this summer to protest the rules in the medical-marijuana program that she says hurt the patients, including her severely ill 15- year- old son. Jennie Stormes, of Hope, Warren County, has held demonstrations every Thursday since July 10, saying the restrictions make it difficult for her son, Jackson, a marijuana cardholder with epilepsy, to get the relief that cannabis can provide for his life-threatening and frequent seizures. [continues 879 words]
They Say Changes Could Better Help Sick Children. He Has Said His Worry Is Moving Toward Legalization. New Jersey's medical-marijuana program is coming under fire from a group of parents, who are setting up orange traffic cones on a sidewalk in front of the Statehouse each week to make their point, simply and colorfully. The program needs repairs, they say, and Gov. Christie is blocking changes that would help their severely ill children get treatment their doctors have recommended. The cones are intended as a visual reference to Bridgegate. [continues 876 words]
During the last 32 years, stockbroker Irvin Rosenfeld has smoked 130,000 marijuana cigarettes - with the federal government's blessing. As jaws dropped in a Harrisburg legislative chamber filled with state senators, Rosenfeld made the remark Tuesday and then held up a silver canister containing 300 pre-rolled joints, a month's supply. He continues to receive the canisters from a government-authorized farm in Mississippi to help treat a rare bone-tumor disorder. This despite the drug's classification by the Drug Enforcement Administration as a top-tier hazardous substance with no medicinal value. [continues 665 words]
The Garden State's Experience With Medical Marijuana EGG HARBOR TWP., N.J. - Before buying cannabis at southern New Jersey's only medical-marijuana dispensary, patients must circle one of six animated faces that stare out from a clipboard. The row of smiling, wincing, frowning and sobbing cartoon faces is being used to rank the degree of pain that patients experience due to cancer, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy and several other conditions the state deems treatable by cannabis. When the patients return to the Compassionate Care Foundation dispensary in Egg Harbor Twp., N.J., for a refill, they again are handed the Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale so that the effect of the marijuana can be assessed. [continues 304 words]
