Tuesday, February 4, 2020

CMMNJ Monthly Meeting Agenda for March 10, 2020


Monthly Public Meeting Agenda 
Lawrence Township Library, Room #1 
Tuesday, March 10, 2020 7:00 PM -- 9:00 PM 

Approve February 2020 minutes. 3/10/20 is the 17th anniversary of CMMNJ!

Marijuana legalization in NJ will be a ballot question on Nov. 3, 2020.
For wording of ballot question, see below or: SCR183/ACR840
Register to vote and vote in the General Elections in November. #VoteCannabis2020!

Home cultivation for patients-
Sign the petition: Let Patients Grow NJ
Also, visit the website: Let Patients Grow NJ #JeffsLaw.

NJ MMP Update: Compassionate Care Foundation opened a satellite dispensary in Atlantic City on 2/22/20, the ninth facility dispensing marijuana for medical use in NJ.

A NJ appellate court agreed to halt the review of 196 applications for 24 additional medical marijuana licenses. A hearing (oral arguments) won't take place before March 2020. The DOH said 51 applications were disqualified for various reasons, but applicants appealed that decision.

A Bill to expand MMP telehealth passed the Senate 2/20; Assembly to vote 3/5/20, 10 am.

Tell Congress Not to Allow Trump to Roll Back Medical Marijuana Protections:  NORML.org

Upcoming Events: 
“Seniors and Medical Marijuana,” Princeton Present Day Club, 3/4/20, 12:30 – 2:15 pm.
Open Forum on Legalization of Cannabis, Atlantic City, 3/4/20, 11 am. RSVP: (609) 457-0149.
The Road to Legalization, Edison, NJ, 3/10/20, 10:30-4:30 pm.
Garden State NORML, Lawrence Twp., NJ Library, 3/25/20, 6:30 pm.
ASA Unity Conference, Washington, D.C., March 25 – 28, 2020.
Patients Out of Time 14th National Clinical Conference on Cannabis Therapeutics, Bethesda, MD, May 28-30, 2020 (also the 25th anniversary of POT).
Shore Grow Patient Aid 20202 fundraiser for CMMNJ: 6/27/20.

Recent events: “Seniors and Medical Marijuana,” JCC, Edison, NJ, 2/11/20.

Treasury report: Checking: $4054; PayPal: $2735.

Many thanks to the Byrne family of Ewing, NJ, who, on the untimely death of their son, Will, directed memorial contributions to CMMNJ. The Byrnes said that medical marijuana greatly improved the last year of their son’s life. Even in their grief, they reached out to help others.

To make a tax-deductible donation to CMMNJ, click here!

CMMNJ’s free, public meetings are the 2nd Tuesday of each month from 7 – 9 PM at the Lawrence Twp. Library, 2751 Brunswick Pike, Lawrence Twp., 08648. All are welcome. (Meeting at the library does not imply Mercer County’s endorsement of our issue.)

More info: 
Ken Wolski, RN, MPA
(609) 394-2137
ohamkrw@aol.com
http://www.cmmnj.org

CMMNJ blog (for agendas and published reports since 2009).

Facebook: Friends of CMMNJ
Coalition for Medical Marijuana - New Jersey

Twitter: @CMM_NJ

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


The ballot question voters will be asked to approve on November 3, 2020:

      Do you approve amending the Constitution to legalize a controlled form of marijuana called “cannabis”?
     Only adults at least 21 years of age could use cannabis.  The State commission created to oversee the State’s medical cannabis program would also oversee the new, personal use cannabis market. 
     Cannabis products would be subject to the State sales tax.  If authorized by the Legislature, a municipality may pass a local ordinance to charge a local tax on cannabis products.

     This amendment would legalize a controlled form of marijuana called “cannabis.”  Only persons at least 21 years of age could use cannabis products legally.
     The Cannabis Regulatory Commission would oversee the new adult cannabis market.  This commission was created in 2019 to oversee the State’s medical cannabis program.  The scope of the commission’s new authority would be detailed in laws enacted by the Legislature.
     All retail sales of cannabis products in the new adult cannabis market would be subject to the State’s sales tax.  If authorized by the Legislature, a municipality may pass a local ordinance to charge a local tax on cannabis products.

More info at:  SCR183/ACR840





Monthly Public Meeting Minutes 
February 11, 2020

January 2020 minutes approved.

1/18/20—10th anniversary of NJ’s CUMCA.

Marijuana legalization in NJ will be a ballot question on November 3, 2020. See below or  SCR183/ACR840  

Register to vote and vote in the General Elections in November. #VoteCannabis2020! (#VoteCannabis2020 will apply for 501(c)(3) status.)

Guest Op-ed: So many reasons to legalize marijuana 

Home cultivation for patients--sign the petition: Let Patients Grow NJ500 signatures so far--it urges legislators to meet with Ken to discuss patient concerns. (Part of a larger campaign including a web site being designed.) Gov. Murphy said he’d sign a Home Grow bill (Jeff’s Law) if we got it to his desk—the bill still needs to be written and introduced. Build coalition support for home grow--NJUMR

NJ MMP Update: Growing operations will start at TerrAscend in Boonton Twp. which will also run three dispensaries. In Feb., three cultivation permits were issued to Verano in Readington, MPX NJ in Pleasantville and Columbia Care NJ in Vineland, bringing the number of medical marijuana cultivation sites in NJ to 11. 

There are seven ATCs currently dispensing medical marijuana: Greenleaf in Montclair, Compassionate Care Foundation in Egg Harbor, Garden State Dispensary in Woodbridge and Union Township, Breakwater in Cranbury, Curaleaf in Bellmawr, Harmony in Secaucus and Rise in Paterson. 

There are now 67,644 patients, 2,543 caregivers and 1,100 physicians participating in the program. 

An NJ appellate court agreed to halt the review of 196 applications for 24 medical marijuana licenses. A hearing (oral arguments) won't take place before March 2020. The DOH said 51 applications were disqualified for various reasons, but applicants are appealing that decision.

An NJ appellate court ruled in favor of reimbursement for a worker’s medical marijuana after a workplace accident. An appeal is unlikely to be heard by the NJ Supreme Court, since the Appellate decision was unanimous.

A Medical Cannabis Dispensary Technician training class will be held this spring at the Raritan Valley Community College in Branchburg, NJ.

NORML: Gov. Murphy gets an A-; NJ Cannabis Insider analysis of reform efforts. 

CMMNJ Board members:
Jim Miller, Longtime Advocate, and NJ Homegrow Leader

Gaetano Lardieri: Cannabis Science Leader and Advocate

A bill would expand telehealth prescribing for medical marijuana patients—the bill passed the state Senate today.

The CMMNJ Year End Report for 2019 is available at: https://cmmnj.blogspot.com/2020/01/cmmnj-year-end-report-2019.html

Upcoming Events: 
The Road to Legalization, Edison, NJ, 3/10/20, 10:30-4:30pm
“Seniors and Medical Marijuana,” JCC, Edison, NJ, 2/11/20, 10:30 – 11:30 am.
“Seniors and Medical Marijuana,” Princeton Present Day Club, 3/4/20, 12:30 – 2:15 pm.
ASA Unity Conference, Washington, D.C., March 25 – 28, 2020.
Patients Out of Time 14th National Clinical Conference on Cannabis Therapeutics, Bethesda, MD, May 28-30, 2020 (also the 25th anniversary of POT).
Shore Grow Patient Aid 20202 fundraiser for CMMNJ: 6/27/20.

Recent events: 
Black Cannabis Mixer of 2020, Ewing, NJ, 1/20/20. 
Garden State NORML lobby day, 12 noon, Trenton State House: 12/16/19.
Interview with Dean Becker of Drug Truth Network: 1/2/20 & 1/3/20

Treasury report: Checking: $4021; PayPal: $2511. A detailed treasury report was forwarded to CMMNJ Board members for 2019.  In summary, in 2019 CMMNJ had expenditures of $3,482 and income of $2,128 for a loss this year of $1,354. CMMNJ finished the year with a checking account balance of $3,726 and a PayPal account balance of $2512 for a grand total of $6,238.

More info: 
Ken Wolski, RN, MPA
(609) 394-2137
ohamkrw@aol.com
http://www.cmmnj.org

Facebook: Friends of CMMNJ
Coalition for Medical Marijuana - New Jersey

Twitter: @CMM_NJ

CMMNJ blog (for agendas and published reports since 2009).

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