New Jersey Legislative Hearing on Medical Marijuana Scheduled

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more info, contact: Ken @ (609) 394-2137

New Jersey Legislative Hearing on Medical Marijuana Scheduled

WHO:  The Health and Senior Services Committee of the New Jersey State Assembly

WHAT:   Will consider the "New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act” (A804)

WHEN:   Thursday, June 4, 2009 at 10:00 a.m.

WHERE: Committee Room #16 in the New Jersey State House Annex

 

The Health and Senior Services Committee of the New Jersey State Assembly will conduct a hearing on “The New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act” A804, on Thursday, June 4, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. in Committee Room # 16 in the State House Annex.  The Coalition for Medical Marijuana--New Jersey, Inc., (CMMNJ) has supported this bill since it was originally introduced in January 2005.  The assembly health committee held an informational hearing on the bill in May 2008, but the upcoming hearing will be the committee’s first opportunity to vote on the issue.  “We hope that the bill will pass out of committee with a recommendation for a favorable vote by the entire Assembly,” said Ken Wolski, RN, Executive Director of CMMNJ.  The New Jersey Senate approved the bill in February 2009 and Governor Jon Corzine has promised to sign the bill when it gets to his desk.  Attorney General Anne Milgram has said that the bill is “workable,” and every major newspaper in New Jersey has editorially endorsed this bill.  Americans approve of medical marijuana by an overwhelming margin, according to all polls.   Nurse Wolski calls marijuana a safe, effective and inexpensive therapeutic agent and is convinced that marijuana will be legal for patients to use throughout the country, eventually.  “Yet every day,” he said, “I hear of another seriously ill New Jersey patient who is suffering needlessly without it, or who has been arrested for using medical marijuana.  This is not only inhumane; it is a terrible waste of state resources.”

 

Many professional healthcare organizations have endorsed medical marijuana including the New Jersey State Nurses Association, the New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians, the New Jersey Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, the New Jersey League for Nursing, and the New Jersey Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.   However, marijuana is not available in pharmacies yet, so New Jersey patients or their caregivers would have to grow their own marijuana, as patients are allowed to do in the 13 other states that approve its use.  The senate version of the bill provided for the establishment of collective gardens in the form of Alternative Treatment Centers.  If approved, New Jersey would be the 14^th state in the U.S. to pass legislation protecting patients who use marijuana with a doctor’s recommendation. 

 

For more info, contact:

 

Ken Wolski, RN, MPA, Executive Director

Coalition for Medical Marijuana--New Jersey, Inc.
844 Spruce St., Trenton, NJ  08648
609.394.2137 www.cmmnj.org   ohamkrw@aol.com

Medical Marijuana Bill Scheduled for June 4, 2009!

The Assembly's Health and Senior Services committee just scheduled a hearing for June 4, 2009 with A804, the Assembly version  of the Compasionate Use Medical Marijuana Act, on the agenda!

The Senate has already passed their version of the bill. It's likely that the Health Committee will vote to move this out to the full Assembly. The full Assembly is likely to pass the bill and the Governor has said he will sign it. So this is a very important step to finally enacting this bill.

With all the surrounding states - NY, PA and Del - considering medical marijuana bills, I hope our state can enact ours first and be a leader instead of a follower.

CMMNJ at the National Constitution Center Ken Wolski and Jim Miller

CMMNJ at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia

Ken Wolski and Jim Miller presented information from the Coalition for Medical Marijuana in New Jersey (CMMNJ) at the Kirby Auditorium at the National Constitution Center in April 2009.

Wolski spoke about the history of American medical cannabis and the civil liberties aspect of prohibition.

Miller spoke about his wife Cheryl, an MS patient who was the catalyst for medical cannabis access in NJ. Cheryl challenged the legislature, law enforcement and residents to consider medical marijuana. She died of MS complications in 2003. Cheryl Miller’s wheelchair remained on the stage throughout the Forum.


CLICK TO LISTEN: KEN AND JIM MP3
Photo: C. David Freitag 2009

CMMNJ Medical Marijuana Radio PSA

CMMNJ Medical Marijuana Radio PSA


The Coalition for Medical Marijuana in New Jersey now has a 30-second radio public service announcement or PSA available for radio stations and online broadcasters.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN NOW: CMMNJ MP3

Longtime medical marijuana supporter and CMMNJ volunteer Diane Fornbacher voiced the script. Diane was a personal friend of Cheryl Miller and will voice a set of new PSAs and announcements soon.

CMNNJ supporters are encouraged to download the MP3 and send it via email or send links to radio stations, radio producers, podcasts, satellite radio shows and streaming internet programs.

We’ll let you know where you can hear the announcement next!

Medical Marijuana supporters are encouraged to produce volunteer media with text blogs, audio and video on sites like Youtube to support A804 in New Jersey.

MM debit cards?

Medical Marijuana, Inc. has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with an (unknown) New Jersey medical marijuana cooperative to provide their "patent pending, stored value, tax remittance card. Bruce Perlowin, CEO of MJNA says, "Things are going really well. We started the Master Agent program a few weeks ago for our agents to show dispensaries the advantages with using our Stored Value Card. These latest dispensaries that have signed up continue to show the acceptance of our tax remittance program. This shows the power of our Master Agent program as it sweeps the country." http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2334343/

It also shows that the MM movement has gotten so strong that financial entrepreneurs see opportunities to make a lot of money. Very American.

If anybody is interested, Medical Marijuana, Inc. is conducting phone conferences this week to discuss their business. See the link above for more information.

By the way - The New Jersey legislation does not use the term "medical marijuana cooperatives". The Senate version of the bill (S119) allows "alternative treatment centers" which operative somewhat like non-profit cooperatives, but with very strict rules on how much they can grow per patient.

Supreme Court rejects appeal to overturn Ca. MM law

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-court-marijuana19-2009may19,0,4902661.story

The Supreme Court rejected appeals from two "hold out" California counties that wanted the state medical marijuana law struck down because it violates the federal drug-control act.

This should totally remove the argument by some NJ Assemblypersons that we shouldn't pass a medical marijuana law because it will conflict with federal law.

Great news.

Getting NJ Medical Marijuana Bill Passed

This is a blurry photo that I took when the NJ Senate passed bill S119, the "New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act" , on Feb.23, 2009. Since then, the Assembly version, A804, has been sitting in the Health and Senior Services Committee. If it ever gets out of committee it is likely to pass the full Assembly and the Governor has said he will sign it. But if it doesn't get out for a vote this session, I believe the process has to start over again from the beginning. Not to mention that medical marijuana patients are getting arrested in NJ while no action is taken, not to mention the thousands of serious ill New Jerseyans who could benefit from the bill during this time.

Please everybody, write the members of the Assembly Health and Senior Service Committee asking them to move this bill out as soon as possible. You can go to http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/committees/assembly.asp and click on "Health and Senior Services" on the right and you'll get a list of the member names. Click on the individual members names to email them or get their phone numbers and call them. Especially Chairman Herb Conaway, who can be emailed through his website: http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/members/BIO.asp?Leg=186
Note that some H&SS Committee members, like Connie Wagner, are cosponsors of the bill and have worked hard to get the bill to where it is.