CMMNJ Public Meeting for October 14, 2025

 

CMMNJ Monthly Zoom Meeting Agenda for October 14, 2025 at 7 pm

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 This is a free, open, non-judgmental space for individuals to express their opinions and thoughts on current events and issues on medical marijuana.

Agenda: New Jersey Issues:

The NJ Governor candidates are Democrat Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ-11) who is pro-cannabis, and Republican Jack Ciattarelli with more mixed views. Be sure to register to vote by October 14th, and vote on November 4th: Welcome to NJ Online Voter Registration website.

NECANN NJ 2025, the largest B2B cannabis convention on the East Coast, took place at the Atlantic City Convention Center on 9/5-6/2025. The event brought over 200 licensed operators, policy makers, investors, and advocates from NJ’s cannabis industry. Thanks to CMMNJ volunteers for helping at Booth 710!

Shore Grow Hydro hosted an event at their store in Oakhurst, NJ to raise money for CMMNJ on 8/16/25. “We’re focused on advocating for home cultivation rights, insurance coverage for medical cannabis, and hospital and institutional access,” Wolski said.

The Smoke Signal

SHOWCASING CANNABIS-POSITIVE RESTAURANTS AND BUSINESSES in South Jersey

TOKE OR TREAT IN THE GARDEN STATE

CMMNJ ad on page 5 of the October issue: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/file:///C:/Users/Owner/Downloads/October%202025.pdf

The “Health Fair” at the Center for Modern Aging Princeton featured CMMNJ’s presentation, “Seniors and Medical Marijuana” on 9/25/25. Ask The Green Nurse: Cannabis Nursing For Senior Care; Honoring the Aging Endocannabinoid System

Marvin’s Garden Dispensary is soon to open in A.C. and will honor our veterans. Contact: Barbie Simmons, Store Mgr., 417-224-8920, barbie@redoakeht.com

NJ Senator Scutari’s bill S4154, “Establishes crime of selling or purchasing marijuana from unlicensed businesses." Sign NORML's S4154 action alert. 

Let Advanced Practice Nurses Recommend Medical Cannabis: NORML Petition

The Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC):

Next meeting: December 11, 2025. Register to speak here by 12/9/25 at 5 p.m. Submit comments in writing by 12/12/25 at 5 p.m.

Watch on Zoom or on YouTube

Full recordings, slides of public meetings, and upcoming meeting dates are available on the CRC public meeting page.

CRC: Your guide to cannabis consumption areas

CRC Leadership CRC is down to three commissioners, Dianna Houenou, Amelia Mapp, and Krista G. Nash. Other leaders.

Medicinal Cannabis Program Participation (as of 9/15/2025)

• Total patients: 55,513
• Caregivers: 3,738
• Doctors: 1,549

NJ legal cannabis sales (medicinal and adults use) topped $1 billion in 2024.

Federal Drug Policy Reform:

More seniors are using cannabis than ever before to alleviate pain, insomnia, and other chronic conditions. Between 2021 and 2023, cannabis use among Americans aged 65 and older increased by 46%, according to a study in JAMA Internal Medicine.

An 800-patient study on back pain by a German drugmaker is the latest evidence of the therapeutic properties of cannabis, which remains illegal under U.S. federal law.

Upcoming events:

Department of Labor & Workforce Development NJ Cannabis Industry Partnership Program, Oct 7, 2025 06:30 PM, Zoom.

CMMNJ will table at Ewing Community Fest, at The College of New Jersey, Sat., October 18, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (rain or shine); Volunteers?

2nd Annual NYS Medical Cannabis Symposium: Cannabinoids in Clinical Practice
Hosted by the New York State Office of Cannabis Management & Northwell Health
Thursday, November 6 • 3:00-8:00 PM: Pre-Symposium Events
Friday, November 7 • 7:00-5:00 PM: Full Day Symposium
Uniondale, New York https://cannabis.ny.gov/symposium

Join ASA’s Fall 2025 Member Meeting, 10/8 at 8 pm, to review this year’s progress on key campaigns, share updates on ASA’s long-term strategic plan, and preview events ahead. This meeting is exclusive to ASA members. Become a member today: Donate $35 to become a member! [Check membership status here].

NJCBA: The Policy Pipeline, 10/21/25, 6-9 pm 144 W. State St., Trenton (fee)

Society of Cannabis Clinicians (SCC) 3rd Annual Medical Cannabis Conference,
Metropolitan State University of Denver, October 24– October 25. Guy speaking.

PhilaDelic, UPENN psychedelic conference, Jordan Medical Education Center, 3400 Civic Center Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19104, 11/22/25, 9-6 pm. Free virtual tickets.

CMMNJ’s ongoing goals:

Insurance bills: Press release: NJSNA supports insurance for medicinal cannabis

·        S1944: Costs of medical cannabis to be reimbursed by Catastrophic Illness in Children Relief Fund, PAAD, Senior Gold and VCCO.

·        S1943/A4371: Requires workers’ compensation, PIP, and health insurance coverage.

·        A898/ S2828: Subsidize medical cannabis in Medicaid or NJ Family Care.

Home cultivation bills: Website: https://www.letpatientsgrownj.com/

Petition: End the Blockade on NJ Senate bill S1393; it has bipartisan co-sponsors, but no committee hearing scheduled yet. Sign NORML’s S1393 Action Alert.

·        S1393/A846: Authorizes home cultivation of medical cannabis.

·        S1985/A3867: Legalizes six plants for personal use and 10 plants for medical

Hospital and Institutional Access:

NJ patients in hospitals, nursing homes, state institutions, group homes and hospice need access to medical cannabis. Patient outcomes would improve, and health care costs would be reduced with access to medical cannabis. 

In 2023 CMMNJ endorsed psychedelic research and the safe use of psychedelics.  A3852/S2283 "Psilocybin Behavioral Health Access and Services Act."

2025 Psychedelic Community Survey, a research project for the psychedelic community, by the psychedelic community. 

Treasury report: $9,420.

Fundraising ideas are always welcome. CMMNJ has thousands of hemp wristbands. Can your organization use them? See the photo below.

Make a tax-deductible donation via PayPal to info@cmmnj.org, or send a check to: CMMNJ, 219 Woodside Ave., Trenton, NJ 08618

Or scan:

More info: 

Ken Wolski, RN, MPA (609) 394-2137 ohamkrw@aol.com 

Facebook: Friends of CMMNJ: https://www.facebook.com/groups/62462971150/

Twitter/X: @CMM_NJ

CMMNJ blog: https://cmmnj.blogspot.com/

CMMNJ website: https://cmmnj.org/

CMMNJ Awards:

2021: NJ Governor's Jefferson Award in the Volunteer Group category;

2023: NJ State Governor's Volunteerism Award in the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Champion for Justice Category "for extraordinary service to your community;"

2023: Ken Wolski won a Lifetime Achievement award;

2023: NJ Senate and Assembly Joint Legislative Resolution affirmed CMMNJ's importance as a "catalyst for the legalization of both medical and recreational marijuana in the State" and paid “tribute to all who have contributed to its success and renown.”

CMMNJ, a 501(c)(3) public charity, is a non-profit educational organization.

Dear Senate President Scutari,

I am writing to you with urgency on behalf of medical cannabis patients across New Jersey, regarding the petition “Legalize Medical Home Cultivation for NJ Patients Now!” which has already gathered nearly 900 signatures of support from patients, caregivers, and advocates statewide.

👉 View the petition here.

As you know, New Jersey was among the earliest states to enact medical cannabis reform, yet it remains one of the few without legal home cultivation. This gap leaves patients—many of whom live with cancer, chronic pain, PTSD, and other debilitating conditions—without fair, affordable, and reliable access to their medicine.

For patients on fixed incomes, dispensary prices are simply unsustainable. For those in rural or underserved areas, dispensaries are often inaccessible. And for immunocompromised patients, travel can be a serious health risk. Allowing limited, regulated home cultivation for registered patients and caregivers would address these inequities while aligning New Jersey with the majority of medical cannabis states.

Home grow is not about undermining the licensed dispensary system—it is about compassion, autonomy, and harm reduction. Just as patients can grow herbs for personal therapeutic use, medical cannabis patients should have the same right to cultivate a modest number of plants for their own treatment. States that allow medical home cultivation have not seen an increase in diversion or abuse. Instead, they have empowered patients to take control of their care in a safe, responsible, and cost-effective way.

The Legislature has already demonstrated compassion and foresight by legalizing adult-use cannabis. Surely, the patients who fought for medical access for over a decade deserve at least the same freedom and dignity.

I respectfully urge you to advance legislation this session that legalizes home cultivation for registered medical cannabis patients and their designated caregivers. This reform is long overdue and deeply needed by New Jersey’s most vulnerable residents.

Thank you for your leadership and your consideration of this vital issue. I look forward to your response and to working together for a more just and compassionate cannabis policy in New Jersey.

Sincerely,

Mike Brennan

Board Member, Coalition for Medical Marijuana–New Jersey (CMMNJ)

Disabled Cancer Patient & Advocate

Coalition for Medical Marijuana--New Jersey, Inc. 
99 E 2nd Street, #B3
Moorestown, NJ 08057

Plan for medical marijuana at hospitals called "pie in the sky"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey (CMMNJ)
www.cmmnj.org

CONTACT: Ken Wolski RN 609 394 2137 ohamkrw@aol.com or Chris Goldstein media@cmmnj.org

Plan for medical marijuana at hospitals called "pie in the sky"

Last month the New Jersey Legislature delayed medical marijuana access and floated a new concept for the program: Rutgers University could be named as the sole source for all medical cannabis cultivation and the marijuana would be distributed only by hospitals.

The full presentation from the New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals (NJCTH) was reported in the Newark Star-Ledger today.

CMMNJ’s Chris Goldstein spoke via phone Friday with NJCTH President J. Richard Goldstein (no relation). He said that NJCTH was invited for what were described as informational discussions in Trenton and not to draft language for the law, calling the medical marijuana proposal “pie in the sky.”

NJCTH’s Goldstein explained, “This is not a full plan. This was just an initial conversation with some key players. The Christie Administration just ran with it.”

Governor Chris Christie’s staff and some legislators have been speaking frequently with the media about the proposals. Patients could access marijuana at hospitals, to be sure, and Rutgers University certainly has the capability of farming medical cannabis. But their Boards of Directors and retained attorneys would be hard pressed to take on the one thing that private businesses already do: Risk.

New Jersey hospitals and Rutgers University have not fully examined their federal liabilities. None of those entities have committed themselves to putting their assets on the line for sick and dying patients. They are not alone; not a single hospital or university in the US currently engages in the production or distribution of state regulated medical marijuana.*

Thirteen states have medical marijuana programs running where private non-profit or for-profit business owners take on the tremendous risk presented by ongoing federal prohibition. Any one of several authorities could seize their properties and assets at any given moment. The owners and employees of medical cannabis businesses also take on the risk of personally losing their freedom through federal arrest.

There do exist groups of private citizens ready to get New Jersey ’s program running.

New Jersey’s medical cannabis patient advocacy groups and others groups interested in offering information about the medical marijuana program have not been afforded the same opportunities to meet with “key players” that Rutgers the NJCTH have enjoyed.

Form letters sent from the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services claimed that state officials were considering no proposals from any group.

The New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act currently calls for the initial licensing of six, private Alternative Treatment Centers (ATCs) around the state.

Patients can only gain legal protections by purchasing marijuana from an authorized ATC.

The NJ Department of Health and Senior Services is currently scheduled to begin the regulatory process in October and bring the medical cannabis program online starting in January 2011.

The Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey is intensifying efforts to educate the public and legislators about the ways to best serve the patients who qualify under the law.

Ken Wolski RN, executive director of CMMNJ, said, "The proposal to monopolize New Jersey's medical marijuana program to provide a funding source for training new doctors in the state represents a betrayal of the very patients that the law was designed to protect and serve."

A cannabinoid researcher from Temple University will address the CMMNJ monthly public meeting which will be held on July 13, 2010 at the Lawrence Township (Mercer Co.) Public Library from 7 - 9 pm.

CONTACT: Ken Wolski RN 609 394 2137 ohamkrw@aol.com or Chris Goldstein media@cmmnj.org

* The University of Mississippi hosts the only DEA licensed marijuana cultivation facility. The single strain of cannabis is distributed to four federal medical marijuana patients. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) also oversees the federal marijuana. It is used for research on a very limited basis.