Monthly Public Meeting Agenda
Lawrence Twp. Library (Mercer County) Room #1 (note room change)
Tuesday, May 10, 2011; 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
7:00 PM: Call meeting to order. Approve April 2011 minutes. Discuss:
May 10 meeting is only until 8:30 PM due to library construction. F/U at local restaurant?
“Medical marijuana law could put dispensaries, state employees at legal risk, according to USDOJ memo.” NJ AG asks guidance from feds; “inappropriate” per CMMNJ; NSL agrees. Inquirer agrees. CMMNJ requests meeting with AG Dow. ASA tells feds, “Cease and desist.”
Senate Judiciary Committee approves Mary O'Dowd as state health commissioner; Dr. Tan #2.
Recent CMMNJ events: Jahan Marcu spoke at Morristown H.S. 4/12/11. NORML’s 40th Annual Conference was 4/21-23, Denver, CO. CMMNJ web site revamped with Joomla! and partially updated for a $1000 fee. Upcoming events: Breastfest 5/14/11. PhillyNORML march and TLA event, 5/21/11. Global Cannabis March 5/7/11. Medical Marijuana Expo in West Atlantic City 6/25/11 by Brendan--609.994.7184. Rescheduling update?
CMMNJ resubmitted comments on the proposed DHSS Medicinal Marijuana Program rules.
New UCSF course 7/8/11: Cannabinoids in Clinical Practice: Challenges and Opportunities
Treasury report: Checking: $3944; PayPal: $3281. Make a tax-deductible donation to CMMNJ, a 501(c)(3) public charity. Use Paypal on our web site, or send a check to “CMMNJ” to the address below. Get a free t-shirt for a donation above $15—specify size.
CMMNJ’s meetings are the second Tuesday of each month from 7 - 9 PM at the Lawrence Twp. Library, 2751 Brunswick Pike, Lawrence Twp., Tel. #609.882.9246. All are welcome. (Meeting at the library does not imply their endorsement of our issue.) For more info, contact:
Ken Wolski, RN, MPA, Executive Director, Coalition for Medical Marijuana—New Jersey, Inc. 219 Woodside Ave., Trenton, NJ 08618 (609) 394-2137 ohamkrw@aol.com www.cmmnj.org
Monthly Public Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, April 12, 2011; 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
7:00 PM: Call meeting to order. March 2011 minutes approved as changed. Discussion:
DHSS awarded permits to six NJ ATCs on 3/21/11. A number of unsuccessful ATC applicants raised concerns about the selection process. They wanted to know and were not told what was deficient in their applications. They were not convinced there was a “level playing field,” since the winning ATC’s appeared “well connected.” Plus, coincident with the selection, the DHSS Commissioner and her Deputy both resign. An ATC applicant who won a permit also attended the meeting; he said he could work with the DHSS rules. Projected price for pts.: $240-$280/oz.
Dr. Alaigh: “Marijuana is not medicine.” Will next DHSS Commissioner disagree?
Submit written comments on proposed DHSS Medicinal Marijuana Program rules, by regular mail, postmarked by 4/23/11 to: Devon L. Graf, Director, Office of Legal and Regulatory Compliance, Office of the Commissioner, NJDHSS, PO Box 360 Trenton, NJ 08625-0360.
Medical marijuana patient David Barnes: Case Dismissed! John Wilson update: No action from governor on request for pardon; appeal of John’s 5 year sentence pending. ASA Newsletter: NCI said pot had anti-tumor effects.
Recent CMMNJ events: Dr. Oz Show airs with CMMNJ supporters 3/29/11. WRNJ debate, 3/17/11. CMMNJ’s “Update on Use of Medical Marijuana in NJ” at NJ State Nurses Assn. Convention, Atlantic City, 3/31/11--CEUs awarded to over 70 RNs. TCNJ Journalism Student Documentary Project, 3/18/11
Treasury report: Checking: $5,110; PayPal: $3,361. E-Postcard filed with IRS (no charge). SONJ corporate filing and change of address done for $50.
The next CMMNJ meeting will be Tues., May 10, at the Lawrence Library Room #1 at 7PM. For info, contact: Ken Wolski, RN (609) 394-2137 ohamkrw@aol.com www.cmmnj.org info@cmmnj.org
NJ AG Paula Dow wrong to seek federal advice on medical marijuana
WHO: Attorney General Paula Dow
WHAT: Asked federal officials their plans to punish NJ’s Medicinal Marijuana Program participants
WHEN: April 19, 2011
WHERE: Trenton, NJ
WHY: The federal government insists marijuana has no accepted medical uses in the U.S.
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 ohamkrw@aol.com
