PRESS RELEASE: Patients demand Gov. Christie, Legislature amend and implement medical marijuana law

The Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey - CMMNJ

PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 17, 2012

CONTACT: Ken Wolski 609 394 2137

Patients demand Gov. Christie, Legislature amend and implement medical marijuana law

(Trenton) - Medical marijuana patients and advocates will demand that Governor Chris Christie and the New Jersey Legislature amend and implement New Jersey’s medical marijuana law. A CMMNJ Press Conference will be held at the State House steps in Trenton, NJ on Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at 12:00 noon.

The “New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act" was signed into law on January 18, 2010. The bill was originally introduced in January, 2005. Today, not a single patient in this state has enjoyed the legal protection that this law was created to provide.

Ken Wolski, RN, executive director of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana--New Jersey, Inc. (CMMNJ) said, “Gov. Christie has delayed and obstructed this law since he took office. The Legislature is abandoning the seriously ill residents that this law was passed to protect. Qualifying NJ residents deserve to have this law working.”

New Jersey passed the first compassionate use law in the country that did not include provisions for patients or their caregivers to grow cannabis. Language to allow micro-plots of up to six plants was stripped away from the legislation at the Assembly Health Committee hearing chaired by Herb Conaway on June 4, 2009.

The Alternative Treatment Centers (ATCs) in the original bill were registered collective gardens but were re-designed as quasi-pharmacies after that hearing. Now seriously ill residents must rely on six regional ATCs for all of their marijuana. But ATCs have struggled to open, leaving NJ patients with no marijuana at all. Home cultivation is permitted in 14 states and this method guarantees safe and legal access to qualified, registered patients.

CMMNJ is calling on the Governor and Legislature to amend the Compassionate Use Act to restore the features that will move the program forward:

- Stop the physician registry and start the patient registry

- Restore home cultivation (six plants per patient/caregiver)

- Restore ATCs as collective gardens in addition to quasi-pharmacies

- Respect out-of-state ID cards

- Include explicit workplace and housing protection for registered patients

In addition CMMNJ reinforces our call on Governor Christie, the State Attorney General and the NJ Division of Consumer Affairs to immediately re-schedule marijuana under NJ controlled substances coding.

WHO: Medical marijuana patients, families and advocates

WHAT: Press Conference to demand that Governor Christie and the amend and the Legislature implement the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act, two full years after it was signed into law

WHEN: Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at 12:00 noon

WHERE: The State House steps, Trenton, NJ

WHY: The governor has consistently delayed this law since he took office - patients have no legal protections

CONTACT: Ken Wolski 609 394 2137

CMMNJ, a 501(c)(3) public charity, provides education about the benefits medical marijuana.

Coalition for Medical Marijuana--New Jersey, Inc.
219 Woodside Ave., Trenton, NJ 08618
609.394.2137 www.cmmnj.org ohamkrw@aol.com

New Jersey Licenses Six Alternative Treatment Centers for Medical Marijuana

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ken Wolski or Chris Goldstein (609) 394-2137 media@cmmnj.org

New Jersey Licenses Six Alternative Treatment Centers for Medical Marijuana

On March 21, 2011 New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS)announced the winning applications for the medical marijuana Alternative Treatment Centers (ATCs) in the Garden State.
Twenty-one applicants submitted exhaustive business plans along with a $20,000 filing fee.

The successful non-profit applicants are:
· Breakwater Alternative Treatment Center, Corp., Ocean, Central Region; The ATC would be located in Manalapan, Monmouth County.

· Compassionate Care Centers of America Foundation Inc. (CCCAF), Jersey City, Central Region; The ATC would be located in New Brunswick, Middlesex County.

· Compassionate Care Foundation Inc., West Trenton, Southern Region; The ATC would be located in Bellmawr, Camden County.

· Compassionate Sciences, Inc. ATC, Sea Cliff, NY, Southern Region; The location of the ATC is undetermined, but will be located in either Burlington or Camden County.

· Foundation Harmony, Cliffside Park, Northern Region; The ATC would be in Secaucus, Hudson County.

· Greenleaf Compassion Center, Montclair, Northern Region; The ATC would be in Montclair, Essex County.

However the regulations governing the facilities have not been finalized and remain in a hard-fought Legislative dispute.

Ken Wolski the executive director of The Coalition for Medical Marijuana--New Jersey (CMMNJ) said,"We certainly wish the successful applicants luck because patients need legal marijuana as soon as possible. However, we have serious doubts that these non-profit organizations will be able to develop a working program with the overly restrictive regulations proposed by DHSS. CMMNJ still supports the legislative Resolution to invalidate significant parts of the DHSS regulations."

Fifteen states and the District of Columbia now have laws that protect patients who use marijuana with a doctor’s recommendation. For more info, contact:

CONTACT: Ken Wolski, RN, MPA, Executive Director 609 394 2137

www.cmmnj.org

State may annouce first medical marijuana suppliers

Today officials will announce the results of the application process for the first medical marijuana Alternative Treatment Centers (ATCs) in the Garden State. The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) confirmed in an email that they would release a statement.

More than 20 applicants submitted exhaustive business plans along with a $20,000 filing fee. But the regulations governing the ATC facilities have not been finalized and remain in a Legislative dispute. Potential non-profits have stated that they would find it nearly impossible to operate under the current proposed rules, even if the state does give them a green light.

NJ DHSS starts marijuana registry for doctors

The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) launched the physician registry for the Medial Marijuana Program today. No other state with a medical cannabis access law has this requirement.

https://njmmp.nj.gov/njmmp/

CMMNJ press release below:

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

CONTACT: Ken Wolski or Chris Goldstein 609 394 2137 media@cmmnj.org

NJ DHSS starts doctor registry for marijuana

The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) launched the physician registry for the Medical Marijuana Program today. No other state has this requirement. The details emerged in draft regulations DHSS released earlier this month.

LINK https://njmmp.nj.gov/njmmp/

Ken Wolski is a Registered Nurse and the executive director of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey. He issued the following statement today:

"The entire physician registration program is unnecessary and was created in the draft regulations from DHSS and not the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act. The law only calls for a patient registry, not a physician registry.

The DHSS says that there will be a public comment period on the draft regulations after they are published in the NJ Register in November. This new registry has no input from patients, legislators or the public.

Moreover, the physician registration program is even more limiting. A new requirement says that physicians must certify that they have completed medical education in Addiction Medicine and Pain Management within the past two years. Physicians must include the course title that covers these two areas, or they will be rejected from the registry.

This is a curious add-on. Marijuana is approximately as addictive as caffeine. Physicians should not be required to take a course in addiction medicine for recommending a substance with documented low addiction potential.

The physician, as part of the registry process, must further certify that the patient has not responded to conventional medical treatment for all qualifying conditions. This goes far beyond the law, which currently requires only a few diagnoses to be resistant to conventional treatment.

The physician is also required to attest that; 'I have provided education for the patient on the lack of scientific consensus for the use of medical marijuana.' This is a blatantly political statement, at odds with the law itself, and shows open hostility to the use of marijuana as medicine.

Finally, it appears that DHSS has also added a new Debilitating Medical Condition to the list that will qualify for medical marijuana. 'Agitation due to Alzheimer's Disease' is now included, arbitrarily, with no public comment.

While it is entirely appropriate to add this condition, it is entirely inappropriate to stop there. Why must tens of thousands of chronic pain patients wait a minimum of two years to be included in NJ's law, when the DHSS clearly has the power to add qualifying conditions so easily?”

CMMNJ is holding a Patient Advisory Group meeting at the Collingswood Public library at 7:00PM on Wednesday October 27th.

More information at www.cmmnj.org

CONTACT: Ken Wolski or Chris Goldstein 609 394 2137 media@cmmnj.org

Final version of NJ medical marijuana law published

Read the final version of the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act

http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2008/Bills/PL09/307_.HTM

Medical Marijuana press conference in Trenton on 6/4

MEDIA ADVISORY - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – June 1, 2010

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

NORML-NJ
www.normlnj.org

Medical Marijuana press conference in Trenton on 6/4

Patients, professionals seek timely regulations

On Friday June 4, 2010 at 1PM local medical marijuana advocacy groups will hold a press conference at the State House in Trenton. Potential medical marijuana patients, doctors, nurses and supporters of the new law will address recent news of a proposed delay for implementing the program.

The New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act was voted and signed in law in January 2010. As passed, the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) was to issue draft regulations in July and patients were anticipating access to a running program by the fall.

Last week a request was made for an additional 6 months to 1 year before the draft medical marijuana program regulations are issued. The extension would require legislation.

CMMNJ and NORML-NJ do not see any need for a delay.

Ken Wolski a registered nurse and Executive Director of CMMNJ said, “If the DHSS cannot write these regulations in 6 months, there is no guarantee they will be able to write them in 18 months. Patients are suffering as they continue to wait for the program.”

Anne M. Davis, Executive Director of NORML-NJ said, “This is a law and there are no exceptions. There are patients with chronic or even terminal illnesses that cannot get an extension on life.”

The 6/4/10 press conference will feature brief statements along with a Q&A. A full list of participants will be released on Thursday June 3, 2010.

CMMNJ and NORML-NJ are addressing two main points:
- Timely implementation of the medical marijuana law
- A request that those in the Christie Administration meet with New Jersey’s local medical cannabis experts and advocates to discuss the law

Media may contact:
Ken Wolski ohamkrw@aol.com 609 394 2137
Anne Davis: law@annemdavis.com 732 477 4700
Chris Goldstein: media@cmmnj.org

WHAT: Medical marijuana press conference
WHERE: Trenton, NJ – State House – State Street entrance steps
WHEN: June 4, 2010 at 1:00PM
WHY: Timely implementation of the medical marijuana law

Official NJ DHSS Medical marijuana website online

A website has been produced by the NJ Department of Health and Senior Services for the new medical marijuana program.

http://www.state.nj.us/health/med_marijuana.shtml