"What would Cheryl do?" Medical marijuana and MS

The Greater Delaware Valley chapter of the National MS Society unceremoniously pulled the plug on the Coalition for Medical Marijuana--New Jersey (CMMNJ) after originally offering us a table at their March 23rd "Beef and Beer" fundraiser in Philadelphia. They waited until I showed up to have a volunteer tell me that there was no table available, and when pressed for an explanation it was explained to me that someone associated with Clear Channel Outdoor threatened to "pull sponsorship" if CMMNJ was allowed to distribute information about medical marijuana at the event. So they acquiesced to coercion and promptly sent me packing. http://cmmnj.blogspot.com/2013/03/ms-society-refuses-medical-marijuana.html

In order to fully understand how unacceptable that is to me, I find it necessary to share some otherwise very personal information. I say this especially to the people running the show at the MS Society's Greater Delaware Valley Chapter, whom I will contacting and offering a link to this blog as well as the one preceding it. This way, they will at least have the benefit of being aware of my intentions ahead of time, unlike the blind side they provided me with.

Although it was almost a decade ago, I remember June 4th, 2003 as if it were yesterday. It was a Wednesday. It was also the day that I had to tell my wife that she was about to die. Two days earlier we had checked Cheryl into the hospital because a weekend bout of chest congestion was causing her to breathe more rapidly than normal. We were assuming that she might need some IV antibiotics, and maybe some nebulizer treatments and additional IV fluids. There had been a noticeable decline in her already compromised condition over the previous few months and I wasn't taking any chances. Multiple sclerosis already had a formidable list of conquests over Cheryl's rapidly weakening body and I didn't want to see that list grow further.

I was sitting with Cheryl while she slept when a nurse called me into the hallway. She informed me that Cheryl had lost her ability to swallow properly. She was slowly aspirating liquid into her lungs and would be needing a feeding tube to survive. So this was it. It had finally come time for me to stand up for Cheryl one last time. She had been very clear about her wish to have no extraordinary means taken to prolong the inevitable. Having no feeding tube was at the top of her list, and it was up to me to make sure that request was honored. Cheryl had lived her life with dignity, and she wanted to die with dignity.

I went over to the chair by her bed and sat there watching her sleep. She had endured so much during the two decades that I had known her, even beyond her struggle with MS. Her youngest son, Ricky, died from an accidental gunshot to the head 20 years earlier and her only daughter, Deena, had been gone for four years, having been killed in a car accident in Oklahoma. Beyond all of that, she suffered physically every time she painfully put her deteriorating body on display while publicly challenging medical marijuana prohibitionists to explain their views to her personally. She would use civil disobedience as a tool to embarrass them when they refused. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KdxUcwAOkI

When she finally woke up I told her that I had something important to tell her...that she was about to be with Ricky and Deena again. She looked puzzled at first, then she closed her eyes and acknowledged my meaning with a slight smile and a nod of her head. She missed them so much and she believed that they would all be together again someday, and here I was telling her that day had finally come. Then Cheryl opened her eyes, turned her head slightly to look at me, and and softly said, "Aww honey...I'm sorry." Her concern for MY well-being at a time like that would surprise nobody who knew her. It was also a transition to something else that I needed to tell her while there was still time. I had made Cheryl a wedding vow almost 19 years earlier, promising to do for her whatever her arms or legs could not, till death do we part. Now that we were about to part, I felt that she deserved to know that I didn't feel capable of continuing on as a medical marijuana advocate without her. Although Cheryl did what she did for everybody else with multiple sclerosis, I did what I did for her. I relied on her strength to realize my own, and now she would no longer be here to help me keep my eyes on the prize.

She looked a little confused as I tried to explain my doubts about being able to continue on as a medical marijuana advocate without her. Then she softly but definitively said, "But you HAVE to," followed by rhetorically asking me, "Don't you wish someone had told us about medical marijuana long before we found out on our own?" Then she paraphrased what she had first told me a dozen years earlier when I asked her if she wanted me to quietly take care of her with cannabis, or go public with our discovery. "We shouldn't wish that somebody would have done something for us that we aren't willing to do for someone else." In an effort to give her closure, I promised that whenever an opportunity presented itself to spread accurate and up to date medical marijuana information to MS patients, I would ask myself,  "What would Cheryl do?" I told her that if I felt that she would have shown up, I would show up and do the best that I could without her. She died peacefully three days later.

Which brings me to the situation at hand. I have a promise to keep. I know exactly what Cheryl would do to ensure that MS patients in the Greater Delaware Valley are not denied access to medical marijuana information. SHE would show up at one of the 14 upcoming "Walk MS" fundraising events being sponsored by the offending chapter and hand out medical marijuana information to participants directly...the same information that was censored at the March 23rd fundraiser. The locations and dates of those walks can be found here: https://secure3.convio.net/nmss/site/SPageServer?pagename=WLK_National

Cheryl began handing out information in New Jersey about cannabis therapeutics relative to MS at the 1994 Toms River MS walk, and continued the tradition at various Jersey Shore locations over the next nine years. Her last time out in public was at the Ortley Beach walk in April of 2003, six weeks before she died.

"Cheryl's last Walk MS event, at Ortley Beach NJ, April 2003" 

She showed up at these events in response to the National MS Society's deliberate and purposeful underestimation of the potential benefits of cannabis for MS patients in the '90s. They would say that they could not recommend cannabis use for MS patients until there were more studies done, while refusing to do the research that they insisted was necessary to get accurate information. They preferred to be ignorant by design.

And now? Using research performed by organizations other of their own, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society's National Clinical Advisory Board concluded in its 2008 "Treatment Recommendations for Physicians" that "it is clear that cannabinoids have potential both for the management of MS symptoms such as pain and spasticity, as well as for neuroprotection." They then go on to estimate that 15% of MS patients already use cannabis for symptomatic relief. However, the real bombshell was their observation that "an unexpected result of basic research, as well as some evidence from clinical trials, led to the discovery that cannabinoids may also reduce neuronal damage." Reduce neuronal damage? They continue on, saying that a reduction in neuronal damage could result in "possibly limiting disease progression" and that marijuana could be used "perhaps as an add-on to other treatments," concluding that "in some ways this is even more exciting than its effects on symptoms such as pain and spasticity."

Really? Let me be clear why that is so exciting. In Cheryl's case, limiting disease progression means that she might have been with me longer and she would have suffered less. This information was prevented from being handed out to the 250 people attending the March 23rd fundraiser.

The success and scope of my response to the censorship of medical marijuana information at the MS Society's Greater Delaware Valley chapter fundraiser is dependent on the amount of help I have. I can't cover all 7 walks happening on April 21st, and I can't cover all 6 walks being held on May 5th. However I will enjoy the May 4th event at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and will be able to attend one walk on each of the other two days that they are being held. I currently have two potential offers of help, meaning that in a best case scenario we could cover as many as half of the 14 scheduled MS Walks in the Delaware Valley.

Anyone wanting to help make it a clean sweep and deliver a message that will be heard loud and clear, you can get in touch with me at pot4ms@yahoo.com. I will be able to make your participation as easy as possible. I can guarantee you, virtually everyone you hand a flyer to will thank you, especially those who are walking for an MS patient who is one of the 15% not waiting for the blessing of the Multiple Sclerosis Society before reaping the benefits of medical marijuana.

Jim Miller, President
CMMNJ

MS Society Refuses Medical Marijuana Information

Imagine my surprise when I found out that the Coalition for Medical Marijuana--New Jersey (CMMNJ) had been invited to have a table at the Greater Delaware Valley MS Society's March 23rd "Beef and Beer" fundraiser.

I have been at odds with the National MS Society over their deliberate ignorance concerning the benefits of medical marijuana relative to MS symptoms since 1995. In 1997 Cheryl headed up the Cures Not Wars yearly May March down 5th Ave in Manhattan with a sign that said "MS Society's Dr. Reingold Lies About Medical Marijuana."

(pictured: Cheryl Miller leading 1997 Cures Not Wars March in New York City)

After the march, legal federal medical marijuana patient Elvy Musika accompanied us as we delivered the sign to the National MS Society's headquarters at 733 3rd Ave. Dr. Reingold chose not to come down to the lobby to accept it in person. He was the head of research and director of grants management for the MS Society at that time and he was doing everything that he could to see that marijuana was NOT clinically studied relative to MS, while at the same time marginalizing multiple sclerosis studies that had been done with THC. As more and more positive information about cannabis began emerging from the British and Canadian MS Societies, our National MS Society's Clinical Advisory Board had to start making certain stipulations such as, "Because inhaled smoked cannabis has more favorable pharmacokinetics than administration via oral or other routes, research should focus on the development of an inhaled mode of administration that gives results as close to smoked cannabis as possible." And, "There are sufficient data available to suggest that cannabiniods may have neuroprotective effects and that studies in this area should be aggressively pursued."

Although I have handed out medical marijuana information at MS Society walks and bike rides for 18 years, both with and without Cheryl, this would be my first time doing so by invitation. It seemed that we had indeed come a long way.

On Saturday, March 23, 2013 Cathi and I arrived at Heroes Hall FOP Lodge #5 on Caroline Road in N.E. Philadelphia, 40 minutes ahead of the 7:30 PM scheduled start of the fundraiser. We knew that there would be 250 attendees plunking down $40 apiece at the door before the actual fundraiser began. Although the night might prove to be financially beneficial for CMMNJ, the real reason that I was there was to interact with supporters who showed such commitment towards improving the lives of MS patients and their families. Statistically speaking, the vast majority would be glad to find out what they could do to help urge the MS Society to take a more active role in cannabis research relative to MS symptoms, and they would no doubt agree that two decades worth of saying that "we need more studies" without attempting to do those studies is no longer acceptable.

When fellow CMMNJ board member Nick Mellis arrived with our table material we all went in to set up. That is when "if it SEEMS too good to be true, it IS too good to be true" set in. As Nick was bringing the second tub of table material in we were told that "there is a problem with your table". It seems that that someone with ties to Clear Channel Outdoor (http://clearchanneloutdoor.com/about-us/) objected to medical marijuana information being available to MS patients and their families at the fundraiser, even if it originated from the MS Society itself, and they threatened to pull sponsorship from the event if we were allowed to set up.

This happened with plenty of time to inform us of the change, yet nobody bothered to notify anyone at CMMNJ. They left two extremely chagrined MS Society volunteers who supported us being there, to tell us to go home when we arrived. Against my initial instinct to react, I opted for leaving on the high road handed to us, and evaluating potential repercussions for that decision that would not be reactionary and immediate, but rather well thought out and planned with an end goal in mind all of the way.

(pictured: Jim Miller leaving the premises, using a hand rail and a walker to get up the steps)

When we are ready in a few days and our reply is fully fleshed out, I will be more than happy to deliver OUR counter offer to the Greater Delaware Valley MS Society's office unannounced and in person. Stay tuned for next weeks blog and a first look at my idea of a return volley. You are REALLY going to like this.

Jim Miller
President and Co-Founder
CMMNJ

Jim Miller returns to Washington, D.C.

This is the second of a series of blogs that I will write to chronicle the trips I will be making to Washington DC on behalf of U.S. military veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), as well as anybody else suffering from post traumatic stress. New Jersey has the most restrictive medical marijuana law in the country. Legislators who were in favor of it's passage were barraged with the concept of our state becoming like "the wild west of California" where anybody with a headache or a hangnail can get a registration card. In a misguided effort to ensure that wouldn't happen, supportive legislators decided they would take it upon themselves to decide who should get medical marijuana and who shouldn't. They stepped in between doctor and patient in the case of thousands of vulnerable New Jersey residents. Even though PTSD is an acceptable reason to be issued a medical marijuana registration card in other states, our legislators did not consider the scars of veterans' sacrifice to their country when they decided to play doctor. No card for you!

Now, according provisions in our state law, those wishing to have the Health Dept. add currently unapproved conditions to the acceptable list of indications for a medical marijuana registration card will need a clinical study in hand to apply. It is unacceptable that there is an FDA approved medical marijuana/veteran PTSD clinical study being blocked by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). I thank the CMMNJ for their support that allows me the ability to ensure everybody that all thirteen congressmen from NJ can no longer claim ignorance of the problem as an excuse for doing nothing about it. I don't go to DC to argue with them. I can't force them to take part. I can however make their reaction to my efforts to educate them public, something they would rather not happen. For many legislators it is a test to see if their fear of marijuana is greater than their fear of clinical tests being federally blocked that could save veterans' lives.

I love walking along the hallways of the congressional office buildings in Washington DC and looking at the legislator's names on the office doors that I pass. I get to walk right into the offices of friend and foe alike, at any office that I want, to represent any issue that is important to me. It is a right of mine as a U.S. citizen that I consider to be more valuable than my right to vote. Don't get me wrong. I vote every year even though my singular vote has never been the difference in an election, but that has never been enough for me. I want to not just have a voice, I want my voice to be heard, especially when it represents the views of seriously ill and injured Americans who cannot show up for themselves.

The cage rattling began on Dec. 6, 2011. I put the congressional delegation from NJ on notice that they had been served, so to speak, and left them with enough information to see if they would go further on their own or not. I told each that I would be by their office every couple of weeks to help keep them in the loop and get answers to any questions that they might have.

http://cmmnj.blogspot.com/2011/12/jim-miller-travels-to-dc-on-behalf-of.html

The real fun began on my return two weeks later on Dec. 20. I had over a dozen letters from constituents of representatives of other states to deliver to their congressional offices as well as followups to do at the NJ offices. I was able to take on the extra visits because CMMNJ supporter Larry Vargo volunteered to go with me and do some stops himself. After getting a late start at 5:00 AM, we made it to our first Senate Office Building in time for a bagel and coffee in the cafeteria before our goal of a 9:00 start. Then we headed off to the Senate offices we were going to go to together. We did initial visits to the offices of Senators Menendez (D-NJ), Lautenberg (D-NJ), Kohl (D-WI), Johnson (D-WI) Schumer (D-NY), and Feinstein(-CA) together before moving to the congressional offices on the other side of the Capitol Building. We did the first two followups together in the Cannon House Office Building at the offices of Rep. Frank Pallone and Rep. Leonard Lance. I was correct in my prediction to Larry that they would have done nothing in the two weeks since they were advised of the situation. Basically though, we were simply setting the hook for the third visit. I advised each available staff member that statistically speaking, 250 US military veterans had killed themselves in the two weeks since I first made them aware of NIDA's blockade of the FDA approved veteran suicide PTSD/medical marijuana clinical trial. I then stated the obvious, that doing nothing was not a good look for them, and it would only get worse as the weeks passed while the number of suicides of veterans with PTSD grew on their watch. I assured them that I would be making their response, or lack thereof, a part of their "permanent record' in the form of a soon to be established website for all to see. Now I apparently have to get a website up and running. Say, anybody want to help make that happen? It is exactly the "big stick" that Teddy Roosevelt talked about. The threat of public awareness.

Larry got started on his own followup visits to 9 of NJ's representatives while I did initial stops at several out of state legislators offices as well as followups at the offices of NJ Reps. Runyan and Holt. I was talking to the staffer manning the desk at the door of Rep.Holt's Longworth office and trying to convince him that he should ask Patrick to see me for a few minutes when in walked Rush Holt. He recognized me from a 20 second chat we had eight years earlier and walked over to me with that "hey...I know you" look. In the 10 minute conversation that followed he showed why he was the the first person one who was smart enough to beat the Jeopardy computer. There was a certain sort of irony when Rep. Holt called Patrick out of his office to introduce him to me instead of the other way around. Rep. Holt confirmed that he is a supporter of medical marijuana and agreed that this deserved looking into. Needless to say, I now have the attention of Holt's Senior Policy Advisor for Defense and Intelligence who will also be his point man on this issue. Then, after Larry and I were finished with the remainder of our otherwise uneventful day of "setting hooks" in anticipation of my third visit, we headed back to Union Station for a quick meal at the food court before delving into the inevitable traffic delays getting out of DC. Let them all have a nice holiday recess and put all of this talk of veteran suicide on hold while they enjoy time with their families.

It turned out that I didn't get back to DC again until five weeks later on Jan. 25. That gave everybody ample time to either assess the situation for themselves or do nothing at all. I visited all 13 NJ congressional offices and made an initial visit to Ron Paul's office as well. Rep. Paul had met Cheryl and me at a Capitol Hill press conference the year before Cheryl died. He was deeply affected by Cheryl's commitment to medical marijuana rights, as displayed by her willingness to travel to DC in such an advanced stage of MS. We talked in his office a month after Cheryl died, and now I was back to ask him for help, and to offer him an opportunity to possibly spring this issue on his rivals at a future Republican presidential debate. I was treated like an old friend by his staff and Adam gave me all the time I needed to make my point, a point easily made in THAT office. They clearly remembered Cheryl's activism and enjoyed a couple of stories that they had not heard as well. I will be following up with additional information for Adam to ponder as requested. Then I was off to inform New Jersey's 13 US Representatives that there had been 875 veteran suicides since my initial visit to their offices seven weeks earlier, many while everybody else was having a good holiday celebration with their families.

My third visits to the offices of Rothman, Pascrell, and Sires showed me that they had done some vetting of the issue. Andrews had a recent change in staff setting us back one visit in the timeline, but he figures to be a supporter anyway. Payne's office and Frelinghuysen's office told me that they would get me a statement by the end of the week. They did not. Kate, from Smith's office took the time to have a productive unhurried visit with me and took copious notes. I waited until the end of our conversation to tell her that I was no stranger to her boss and that our previous encounters had been acrimonious at best. I'm not sure that she believed me when I told her that I brought Cheryl's funeral flowers to his Whiting office so he could watch them die instead of me. I'm guessing the fourth visit will be interesting. Pallone's office had apparently done nothing, and I chose to NOT tell his staff yet that I had picketed his 1175 Ocean Ave. Long Branch home with Cheryl's "memorial" wheelchair a month after she died. The fact that they did NOT know who I was certainly indicates that this issue hadn't yet reached Pallone yet.

Patrick was not in at Holt's office, leaving that follow up to an email when I got back. No need to worry there though. Gene from Sire's office had not only done his homework, he seemed to be taking the issue pragmatically for a republican rather than seeing it as a partisan issue. He rightfully took me to task for not having all of the information he needed to know whether or not NIDA was willing to work with the researchers at the Multidiciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) in order to meet the requirements for selling them government marijuana for the study. Considering that the FDA had had worked with MAPS in order to give their approval of the protocol for the study, it was indeed a logical question. My guess that NIDA will not relent was not good enough. Good one Gene! The others from New Jersey also expressed an interest in focusing on the exact stumbling block in NIDA'S refusal. All except David at Scott Garret's office. Not only was he condescending, he had absolutely no concept of the possibility that a Schedule 1 substance (marijuana) was even allowed to be studied in the US. He said it is his (Garrett's) position that they would not be looking into this unless somebody else initiates a response first. Then, and only maybe then, they might look into it. He actually asked me if I was recording him, as if he was worried that I might be able to accurately quote him.

Finally stopping by my representative's office (Jon Runyan) office last, I found Jennifer to be more cordial than she was at our first encounter. I'm not saying that the potential threat of media exposure had anything to do with it, but that IS what legislators respond to. She is now anxiously awaiting my followup email with a more precise evaluation of what needs to be done. Fair enough for now. My next scheduled trip to DC is Feb. 18, two days before over a thousand veterans will assemble at the Washington Monument and march to the White House in support of Ron Paul. http://fr33agents.com/1000-veterans-to-march-on-the-white-house-for-ron-paul/ I have met the organizer, Adam Kokesh, and hope he will include information about Rep. Paul's support for getting this study done during his event.

Jim Miller travels to D.C. on behalf of veterans with PTSD

We all know that the battle for medical cannabis is an uphill fight. The playing field is not level. That is for sure. However, every now and then a situation arises where the playing field is not just level, it is downhill all the way. The trick is to recognize that situation when it occurs and then hit it with all that you have. Be willing to commit. To that end I have suspended my efforts to finish a seven year project of writing a book, "Till Death Do We Part", in order to commit to ending the de facto federal blockade of research concerning the value of cannabis as medicine in this country. I fought for medical marijuana rights for my late wife Cheryl out of fear and anger even though I knew the odds were insurmountable. I fought because I had to. This is different. This time I fight because it is a battle that is entirely winnable. I went to Washington DC on Tuesday, December 6, to prove to myself that this is true. I drove home knowing that we hold all of the cards and all we have to do is play them.

The door to my congressman's (Jon Runyan) Longworth office was locked when I arrived at 8:20 AM so I sat on the floor and waited for the business day to begin. I was sweating after the 15 minute walk from Union Station on an unseasonably warm day and wishing that I was more properly attired. I had debated waiting until I could replace my threadbare suit or at least get a jacket and nice button down shirt to wear, but in the end I decided that being better dressed would have to wait until my follow up trips. After about 20 minutes, Runyan arrived with a staffer and I stood up to be dwarfed by the 6'7" 330 lb.former offensive lineman for the Philadelphia Eagles. I told him that I was concerned about the suicide rate among veterans and needed to talk with him or someone on his staff. I had emailed him a month ago and followed up with two visits to talk with his staff at his Mount Laurel NJ office but he didn't seem to make the connection, leaving me to believe that the issue had not even reached him. He told me that he was on his way to an appointment, but that I could wait until Jennifer came in at 9:00 and speak with her.

Having to squeeze in as many office visits as I could in six hours, including all 13 congressmen from NJ, I opted for putting Runyan on hold and going down the hall to the office of Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ). This is where I would begin to find out how earnestly this issue would be received on it's own merit. Congressional staffs like to manage their work load in part by shuffling non-constituents out of the office while saying something like "We have 600,000 constituents who we have promised to represent and our staff is already overloaded, so we regretfully must ask you to work with your own US representative to try and resolve this issue". To counter that, whenever I "cold call" a congressional office I like to bring at least one letter with me from a constituent that starts out saying something like "Dear Congressman (Smith), I would like you to have someone on your staff take the time to talk with Jim Miller when he delivers this letter to your DC office, as he can adequately represent my views on this important issue". First though, I like to see if the issue at hand keeps me from getting the bums rush before hammering them with the letter when necessary. But when someone does try to show me the door, I pull out the letter and say something like "As it happens I have a letter from a constituent whose request IS that you take the time to talk with me...now". I do enjoy watching someone's expression when they first realize that the balance of power has just shifted. In the case of Congressman Holt's staff, the issue of preventing veteran suicide was enough to be taken seriously even from a non-constituent, making the letter I brought from constituent Ken Wolski icing on the cake. I was advised that Patrick will be point man at Congressman Holt's office and to direct future correspondence to him.

I tried to work on varying presentation styles at my first couple of offices, and I arrived at the following as being the nuts and bolts of what proved to get rapt attention, one office after another. I use a staccato cadence on purpose, with each sentence meant to be considered as an individual, indisputable, stand alone fact.

"Suicide has reached epidemic proportions among US military veterans. Six thousand veterans commit suicide each year, far exceeding the national average for non-veterans. Well over 50,000 Viet Nam veterans have killed themselves, which is more than the enemy was able to kill in combat. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a factor in most veteran suicides. The Veterans Administration says that there were 40,000 diagnosed cases of PTSD in the past year among troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, placing a strain on their resources. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved the protocol for a clinical trial involving Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans diagnosed with PTSD which has proven resistant to conventional therapies. The study is designed to evaluate the efficacy of marijuana relative to PTSD. The federal government (DEA) has a monopoly on the only supply of marijuana allowed for medical research in this country. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has subsequently denied the researcher's request for the marijuana necessary to proceed with this study, even though the study is privately funded and would cost taxpayers nothing. In July, the DEA denied a petition to reschedule marijuana out of Schedule 1 of the Controlled Dangerous Substances Act, reaffirming it's stance that marijuana has 'no currently accepted medical use in the US'. It took them 9 years to come to that decision. So, what we have here is one branch of the federal government maintaining that marijuana has no medical use while another branch refuses to let a clinical trial proceed that might prove otherwise, thereby preventing acquisition of clinical information that could save veterans' lives".

Yeah...THAT got their attention at every one of the 19 offices I visited that day...some because of their compassion and some looking to protect their ass. Whether or not it warrants their attention is up to them, but I warned them that the clock is now ticking and every week they do nothing another 125 veterans will have killed themselves. I left most offices with contact information for the appropriate person on staff to follow up with.

Finally, at the end of the day I made it back to Runyan's office to finally get to talk with Jennifer. Ironically it was she who was the only one at any of my 19 office visits that day who played the "600,000 constituents" card. Although Jennifer could not use this as a reason to push me out the door, she relied on it heavily in her effort to explain why their staff had done absolutely nothing in the first month that they had this information. I reminded her that 500 US military veterans had committed suicide in that same time period. She countered with the first of several sentences she would annoyingly begin with "What you have to understand is...." in order to help me accept such delays as inevitable and as being beyond Jon Runyan's control. I suggested that although she and freshman congressman Runyan had been on the job less than 11 months and I had been lobbying congress for medical marijuana rights for 20 years, inexperience should not prevent her from knowing what "fast tracking" an issue meant. I guess that I will see what plans Congressman Runyan has to deal with epidemic veteran suicide, if any at all, on Dec. 20, my next planned visit.

Anybody (living in NJ or otherwise) who wants to take part in ending the federal blockade against studying medical marijuana relative to PTSD can contact me directly at pot4ms@yahoo.com. I will be glad to advise you as to what needs to be in your letter to get my foot in your congressperson's door and you can fill in the rest, or simply use what I write for you as your own if you think it directly reflects your concerns. If you email the letter directly to me, but address it to your representative as if you were sending it to him (or her), it allows me the element of surprise if they try to rush me out the door with "Are you a constituent Mr.Miller?" I hope to have a productive trip to DC on Dec. 20. If your congressional representative is one of the 431 who are NOT Runyan, Pallone, Holt, or Freylinghuysen...I need a constituent letter from you. It does not matter what your representative's past opinion on medical marijuana has been. I need that letter to jump start the dialogue. If you have any interest at all in righting this wrong, email me at pot4ms@yahoo.com and I will help you publicly put your representative officially on notice and get his clock ticking...at the rate of 125 veteran suicides per week for every week that he or she does nothing. Ooh...that IS a bad look.

VIDEO: Philadelphia Global Marijuana March 2010

More info at http://www.examiner.com/x-29881-Philadelphia-NORML-Examiner~y2010m5d3-VIDEO-PhillyNORML-2010-Global-Marijuana-March

Photo: MS Patient John Ray Wilson Trial

Here is John with CMMNJ co-founder Jim Miller at the courthouse on Friday 10/30 2009. Thanks to K. Long for the pic!

CMMNJ is continuing our support of John Ray Wilson, who faces 15 years in state prison for growing 17 marijuana plants. John lives with MS and used cannabis therapy for treatment.

Donate to the Wilson family directly here.

Despite a public call from two state Senators for a pardon the criminal trial against John is moving ahead.

Read more about John's case here

In August CMMNJ rallied at the Somerset County Courthouse. Our volunteers plan on having a supporting presence at the courthouse through all phases of the trial.

The next date is December 14, 2009. Read More

John Wilson Trial Date Set

CMMNJ's Jim Miller was at the Somerset County Courthouse on 10/30 for John Wilson's court hearing.

Despite a public call from two state Senators for a pardon the criminal trial against John is moving ahead.

CMMNJ is planning to have a supporting presence at the courthouse during all phases of the trial. The tentative dates are 12/14 for jury selection and 12/21 for opening arguments.

Jim was quoted and photographed in the following news article

Senators Push for Pardon of Franklin Man with MS Charged with Growing Medical Marijuana - MyCentralJersey.com

A four-year plea deal is on the table. But Lesniak said even that could ensure that Wilson would die behind bars.

Prosecuting people like Wilson "wasn't the intent of the legislation," of the drug manufacturing statute, Lesniak said. "It was designed to go after drug kingpins. This is hardly the case."

Wilson is facing two other charges, a second-degree manufacturing charge and a third-degree possession offense. The second-degree charge can bring five to 10 years in prison; a third-degree offense, three to five years.

Lesniak said they have not sought an outright pardon since Wilson must face consequences if found guilty. Community service would be a more appropriate sentence, Lesniak said. READ FULL ARTICLE

More about medical marijuana in New Jersey at www.cmmnj.org

Star Ledger Video of 8/21 CMMNJ Rally

Marijuana advocates support patient facing drug charges

Medical marijuana advocates protest at Somerset courthouse