Wednesday, February 17, 2010
John Wilson's sentencing delayed
MS patient John Wilson's medical marijuana sentencing in Somerset County Court in Somerville, NJ has been postponed from Friday, Feb. 19, 201 due to the judge's "personal
Monday, February 15, 2010
Tom's Story
Tom Ahern called me today. He was very upset that he was about to lose his job due to his medical marijuana use.
Tom was arrested in New York City five months ago. A passenger in Tom’s car had $20 worth of marijuana. Tom was arrested along with the passenger, even though the passenger insisted that the marijuana was his. The marijuana charge against Tom was dismissed—he was never found guilty of anything. But the New York City police contacted his employer. Tom is a blacksmith at the Belmont Racetrack in New York. He shoes horses for a living. As such, he must be licensed by the Wagering Board. The Wagering Board suspended Tom’s license due to his arrest and insisted that Tom complete a drug treatment program.
Tom enrolled in a drug treatment program in Long Island. He went for 13 weeks and had to pay $75 a week out of his own pocket. He passed half a dozen urine tests for drugs during that time. After the 12th week, the drug treatment program told him that he would have to attend an additional 13 weeks. They refused to tell him why. Angry and frustrated, Tom went home and smoked some marijuana for the first time in months. The next week, the drug treatment program tested Tom’s urine and Tom tested positive. Now he was told that he had failed the program altogether and the program was going to report that to his employer.
Tom asked me what he could do. Though he works in New York, he lives in New Jersey, and he knows that New Jersey just passed a medical marijuana law. Could I refer him to a doctor who could get him an ID card? Tom said that he uses marijuana to treat his depression and anxiety. No, I explained. The law just passed and it will not be implemented until July 2010. It will be the Department of Health that will issue the ID cards, based on a physician’s certification that the patient has a qualifying condition. The New Jersey law is very restrictive. Tom’s medical conditions, depression and anxiety, would not qualify him to use marijuana in New Jersey.
I asked Tom if he was ever treated by a doctor for these conditions. He said no, he had tried tranquilizers and anti-depressants and hated the way they made him feel. A few tokes of marijuana in the evening, though, was all he needed to lift his spirits, ease his anxiety, and make him feel human again. I suggested Tom talk to his physician and tell him that he has been self-medicating for these conditions. There may come a time when New Jersey does recognize that marijuana is a safe and effective treatment for a wide variety of mental disorders. But right now, New Jersey only allows marijuana for a few physical conditions. In the meantime I suggested that Tom hire a lawyer, who may be able to argue his case before the Wagering Board.
Tom was forced into a drug treatment program merely for sitting next to a person who had marijuana on him. Then Tom used marijuana, while off duty, to treat a medical condition and he may lose his job for that. The tyranny of these drug treatment programs is yet one more example of the social injustice that Tom faced. That Tom could arbitrarily, and without explanation, be forced to extend his program for another 13 weeks represents nothing short of greed and cruelty on their part. To force anyone into a substance abuse treatment program for marijuana use is absurd, when you consider that marijuana is less addicting than caffeine. According to a new report issued by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, nearly six out of ten individuals enrolled in drug treatment for marijuana were referred there by the criminal justice system. Treatment statistics show that over 37 percent of the nearly three hundred thousand people who entered drug treatment for marijuana in 2007 had not reported using it in the 30 days previous to their admission.
Substance abuse treatment programs for marijuana use are worse than a rip-off. They can literally destroy lives.
Tom was arrested in New York City five months ago. A passenger in Tom’s car had $20 worth of marijuana. Tom was arrested along with the passenger, even though the passenger insisted that the marijuana was his. The marijuana charge against Tom was dismissed—he was never found guilty of anything. But the New York City police contacted his employer. Tom is a blacksmith at the Belmont Racetrack in New York. He shoes horses for a living. As such, he must be licensed by the Wagering Board. The Wagering Board suspended Tom’s license due to his arrest and insisted that Tom complete a drug treatment program.
Tom enrolled in a drug treatment program in Long Island. He went for 13 weeks and had to pay $75 a week out of his own pocket. He passed half a dozen urine tests for drugs during that time. After the 12th week, the drug treatment program told him that he would have to attend an additional 13 weeks. They refused to tell him why. Angry and frustrated, Tom went home and smoked some marijuana for the first time in months. The next week, the drug treatment program tested Tom’s urine and Tom tested positive. Now he was told that he had failed the program altogether and the program was going to report that to his employer.
Tom asked me what he could do. Though he works in New York, he lives in New Jersey, and he knows that New Jersey just passed a medical marijuana law. Could I refer him to a doctor who could get him an ID card? Tom said that he uses marijuana to treat his depression and anxiety. No, I explained. The law just passed and it will not be implemented until July 2010. It will be the Department of Health that will issue the ID cards, based on a physician’s certification that the patient has a qualifying condition. The New Jersey law is very restrictive. Tom’s medical conditions, depression and anxiety, would not qualify him to use marijuana in New Jersey.
I asked Tom if he was ever treated by a doctor for these conditions. He said no, he had tried tranquilizers and anti-depressants and hated the way they made him feel. A few tokes of marijuana in the evening, though, was all he needed to lift his spirits, ease his anxiety, and make him feel human again. I suggested Tom talk to his physician and tell him that he has been self-medicating for these conditions. There may come a time when New Jersey does recognize that marijuana is a safe and effective treatment for a wide variety of mental disorders. But right now, New Jersey only allows marijuana for a few physical conditions. In the meantime I suggested that Tom hire a lawyer, who may be able to argue his case before the Wagering Board.
Tom was forced into a drug treatment program merely for sitting next to a person who had marijuana on him. Then Tom used marijuana, while off duty, to treat a medical condition and he may lose his job for that. The tyranny of these drug treatment programs is yet one more example of the social injustice that Tom faced. That Tom could arbitrarily, and without explanation, be forced to extend his program for another 13 weeks represents nothing short of greed and cruelty on their part. To force anyone into a substance abuse treatment program for marijuana use is absurd, when you consider that marijuana is less addicting than caffeine. According to a new report issued by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, nearly six out of ten individuals enrolled in drug treatment for marijuana were referred there by the criminal justice system. Treatment statistics show that over 37 percent of the nearly three hundred thousand people who entered drug treatment for marijuana in 2007 had not reported using it in the 30 days previous to their admission.
Substance abuse treatment programs for marijuana use are worse than a rip-off. They can literally destroy lives.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
How do I become a medical marijuana patient in New Jersey?
Now that the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act (CUMMA) has passed into law, patients are asking when and how they can start using medical marijuana. This is a quick review of the law, timeline and other issues. Remember, this is our understanding of the bill. We will all have to wait until the Department of Health and Human Services (DHSS) puts out explicit rules and regulations associated with the CUMMA to have a full understanding of the medical marijuana process. We will post updates as we get more information.
What conditions are eligible for medical marijuana?
1) One of the following conditions, if resistant to conventional medical therapy: seizure disorder, including epilepsy, intractable skeletal muscular spasticity or glaucoma;
2) one of the following, if severe or chronic pain, severe nausea or vomiting, cachexia, or wasting syndrome results from the condition or treatment thereof: positive status for human immunodeficiency virus, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or cancer;
3) amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis, terminal cancer, muscular dystrophy, or inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn’s disease ;
4) terminal illness, if the physician has determined a prognosis of less than 12 months of life; or
5) any other medical condition or its treatment that is approved by the DHSS by regulation.
Note the last provision. Even if your serious medical condition is not yet covered, it can be added by the DHSS.
When can I get medical marijuana?
This is our current understanding of the timeline for patient ID cards and the formation of Alternative Treatment Centers (ATCs):
CUMMA passed into law 1/18/10. Usually reliable State House sources say regs will be out in 3 mos. (April) and the program running in 6 (July). No real info before that.
So the earliest possible time to be able to go to an ATC is July. However, if the ATCs have to start growing marijuana on that date, it may be another three months or so before the medicine is ready.
Where do I get medical marijuana?
The CUMMA does not allow patients to cultivate marijuana. Instead they will have to register with an Alternative Treatment Center (ATC) and receive it there. Initially there will be 6 non-profit ATCs. Patients will likely have to compensate the ATC for the cost of production of the marijuana.
How do I get a medical marijuana “prescription”?
When the program is running, you must apply for and receive a “registry identity card” from DHSS for your qualifying condition. Your doctor writes a “certification”. You take your registry card and the certification to an ATC to receive the medical marijuana.
Begin a discussion with your doctor NOW
Have as much in place as possible before the law takes effect. Begin a dialogue with your physician now. Discuss why you think you need marijuana for your condition. See what your doctor says. If he agrees, fine. Ask him/her if he would please make note of that in your chart.
If he disagrees, ask him why? Is it his unfamiliarity with marijuana? Or his belief that the risks outweigh the benefits? Ask him if you can present him with some research findings that support your belief (See ASA and NORML links at http://cmmnj.org/ and the Patients Out of Time link below), then do so. Discuss this with any specialist you might be involved with. Ask him/her if he would please make note of that in your chart. Perhaps get a second opinion.
If he says he has to wait for the law, remember, the law is only partially the issue. The real issue is your need for marijuana as part of your therapy, and a physician agreeing to that. The law is very restrictive and many patients who could benefit will find themselves not qualified under the law. But they may become qualified as doctors and patients request the addition of new conditions to the DHSS regulations.
Info for Docs and nurses: The law offers significant protection to doctors who make medical marijuana “certifications” (recommendations) . There are numerous scientific papers available showing the utility of medical marijuana that many doctors may want to review. We will be putting up links to these papers. Doctors and nurses can also receive information at the upcoming Patients Out of Time Clinical Conference April 15-17 http://www.medicalcannabis.com/Clinical-Conferences/2010-upcoming-conference and the NJ State Nurses Association INPAC Breakfast on Feb. 4 http://www.njsna.org/
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Judge Reed: Don't put John Wilson in prison
Edward R. Hannaman, Esq.
Ewing, New Jersey 08618
January 21, 2010
Hon. Robert B. Reed, JSC
PO Box 3000
Somerville, New Jersey 08876-1262
Re: John Wilson Sentencing
Dear Judge Reed:
As a Board member of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey, I am intensely interested in justice for medical marijuana patient John Wilson. The prosecution’s unjustified adherence to the letter of the law caused it to subvert the law’s true intent. A multiple sclerosis patient using marijuana for medical relief was never the intended target of a law prohibiting drug dealers from growing marijuana for profit. Thus, John should not have been charged under a statute with this level of severity. A proper and humane prosecution would have recognized that this statutory prohibition was not aimed at patients-as two leading legislators publicly pointed out.
Other lesser charges were available to the prosecution but it chose to treat a patient as a major drug kingpin. Had the county prosecutor handled this case, it is probable that John would now be in pre-trial intervention. The State Gangs and Organized Crime Unit however deliberately ignored virtually all the pertinent facts about John’s growing of marijuana. In addition it ignored the facts that John harmed no one, had no intent to harm anyone and did not act in any way to which the criminal law would attribute culpability as potentially harming anyone. The court should not compound the prosecution’s cruel misapplication of the criminal statutes by inflicting unjust and undeserved punishment on John Wilson. He already suffers punishment enough from multiple sclerosis.
Others have written to you to document the beneficial effects of marijuana for those suffering from this cruel, incurable disease. Its use as an effective affordable palliative is beyond question-especially to a person without steady work or medical insurance. At this juncture, the question is not simply the appropriate punishment for violation of a specific statute. Rather, the question is what sentence fits a defendant in John’s condition, using a substance purely for medicinal relief and doing so at this point in the law’s evolution.
None of the accepted rationales for incarceration apply in this case. John is obviously not a danger to society so there is no reason to separate him from it. There is no need for punishment in order to deter him. Deterrence became moot on January 18;the day the Governor signed the Compassionate Use Bill into law. Marijuana use is now a legally recognized right for patients with John’s condition. Even without this law, however, John’s imprisonment would have been unlikely to deter others as seriously ill as he. Such users already face a worse punishment from their disease. Marijuana use for patients like John is not a lifestyle choice but, rather, one borne of medical necessity. Fortunately, we stand at a moment when society has finally accepted that
punishing patients for using marijuana as a medicine is an outmoded, cruel approach with no place in law enforcement. Cases like John’s do not belong in a court but in a doctor’s office. Imprisonment here would be an atrocity to justice now that the State has formally recognized that even the prosecution of people like John is a perversion of criminal law.
By growing his own medication, John did not engage in the drug trade and he did not seek to profit in any way- only to ease his suffering. There is no reason a humane civilized society should exact retributive punishment for John’s act of self-preservation. Notably, the law accepts
justification as a defense for seriously inflicting harm on another-even killing them if necessary to protect one’s own life or that of another. How can a system that excuses the killing of another justify imprisoning a person for saving his own life while harming no other?
John is now eligible to become a legally recognized medical marijuana patient. He does not deserve to be sentenced to imprisonment as a drug manufacturer. Basic justice demands that John not be martyred to a law already recognized as inapplicable to him. In this case, the only just response is probation.
Certainly passing sentence in a case like this presents a dilemma. Does this court seek to do actual justice for this defendant or simply impose prescribed punishments for the statute’s intended targets? Does the court act in accordance with the clear intent of the law or not? John is a patient who is morally blameless and whose actions the law has subsequently vindicated. If there is to be the unnecessary cruelty of an order of imprisonment - let it come from the appellate court. Let its members bear the injustice on their consciences. One thing is certain; the sentence imposed will either worsen John’s suffering probably shortening his life, or allow him a fair chance to battle his disease.
A just sentence here comports with the true intent of the law under all the facts of this case; a sentence that recognizes John deserves treatment as a patient, not imprisonment as a criminal.
Very truly yours,
Edward R. Hannaman, Esq.
Ewing, New Jersey 08618
January 21, 2010
Hon. Robert B. Reed, JSC
PO Box 3000
Somerville, New Jersey 08876-1262
Re: John Wilson Sentencing
Dear Judge Reed:
As a Board member of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey, I am intensely interested in justice for medical marijuana patient John Wilson. The prosecution’s unjustified adherence to the letter of the law caused it to subvert the law’s true intent. A multiple sclerosis patient using marijuana for medical relief was never the intended target of a law prohibiting drug dealers from growing marijuana for profit. Thus, John should not have been charged under a statute with this level of severity. A proper and humane prosecution would have recognized that this statutory prohibition was not aimed at patients-as two leading legislators publicly pointed out.
Other lesser charges were available to the prosecution but it chose to treat a patient as a major drug kingpin. Had the county prosecutor handled this case, it is probable that John would now be in pre-trial intervention. The State Gangs and Organized Crime Unit however deliberately ignored virtually all the pertinent facts about John’s growing of marijuana. In addition it ignored the facts that John harmed no one, had no intent to harm anyone and did not act in any way to which the criminal law would attribute culpability as potentially harming anyone. The court should not compound the prosecution’s cruel misapplication of the criminal statutes by inflicting unjust and undeserved punishment on John Wilson. He already suffers punishment enough from multiple sclerosis.
Others have written to you to document the beneficial effects of marijuana for those suffering from this cruel, incurable disease. Its use as an effective affordable palliative is beyond question-especially to a person without steady work or medical insurance. At this juncture, the question is not simply the appropriate punishment for violation of a specific statute. Rather, the question is what sentence fits a defendant in John’s condition, using a substance purely for medicinal relief and doing so at this point in the law’s evolution.
None of the accepted rationales for incarceration apply in this case. John is obviously not a danger to society so there is no reason to separate him from it. There is no need for punishment in order to deter him. Deterrence became moot on January 18;the day the Governor signed the Compassionate Use Bill into law. Marijuana use is now a legally recognized right for patients with John’s condition. Even without this law, however, John’s imprisonment would have been unlikely to deter others as seriously ill as he. Such users already face a worse punishment from their disease. Marijuana use for patients like John is not a lifestyle choice but, rather, one borne of medical necessity. Fortunately, we stand at a moment when society has finally accepted that
punishing patients for using marijuana as a medicine is an outmoded, cruel approach with no place in law enforcement. Cases like John’s do not belong in a court but in a doctor’s office. Imprisonment here would be an atrocity to justice now that the State has formally recognized that even the prosecution of people like John is a perversion of criminal law.
By growing his own medication, John did not engage in the drug trade and he did not seek to profit in any way- only to ease his suffering. There is no reason a humane civilized society should exact retributive punishment for John’s act of self-preservation. Notably, the law accepts
justification as a defense for seriously inflicting harm on another-even killing them if necessary to protect one’s own life or that of another. How can a system that excuses the killing of another justify imprisoning a person for saving his own life while harming no other?
John is now eligible to become a legally recognized medical marijuana patient. He does not deserve to be sentenced to imprisonment as a drug manufacturer. Basic justice demands that John not be martyred to a law already recognized as inapplicable to him. In this case, the only just response is probation.
Certainly passing sentence in a case like this presents a dilemma. Does this court seek to do actual justice for this defendant or simply impose prescribed punishments for the statute’s intended targets? Does the court act in accordance with the clear intent of the law or not? John is a patient who is morally blameless and whose actions the law has subsequently vindicated. If there is to be the unnecessary cruelty of an order of imprisonment - let it come from the appellate court. Let its members bear the injustice on their consciences. One thing is certain; the sentence imposed will either worsen John’s suffering probably shortening his life, or allow him a fair chance to battle his disease.
A just sentence here comports with the true intent of the law under all the facts of this case; a sentence that recognizes John deserves treatment as a patient, not imprisonment as a criminal.
Very truly yours,
Edward R. Hannaman, Esq.
Monday, January 18, 2010
NJ Medical Marijuana Bill Signed Into Law
Now We Are the 14th Medical Marijuana State!
N.J. medical marijuana law signed by Gov. Corzine
By Claire Heininger/Statehouse Bureau
January 18, 2010, 8:00PM
TRENTON -- Gov. Jon Corzine tonight signed a measure making New Jersey the 14th state to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes, part of a flurry of bills the Democrat penned in his last full day on the job.
The governor stayed out of sight in his Newark office as the Statehouse was readied for Republican Gov.-elect Chris Christie, who takes office at noon Tuesday.
“I have enormous gratitude to the people of New Jersey for this decade of opportunity to serve,” said Corzine, a U.S. Senator before becoming governor. He has not revealed his future plans.
The marijuana bill (S119) is expected to take effect in six months. Only patients with specific illnesses would be permitted to get a prescription: cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS, seizure disorder, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as Lou Gherig’s disease), severe muscle spasms, muscular dystrophy, inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn’s disease and any terminal illness if a doctor has determined the patient will die within a year.
The law allows the state health department to include other illnesses when it writes rules implementing it.
The law has other restrictions, such as forbidding people from growing their own marijuana, ensuring it is dispensed through licensed “alternate treatment centers,” and requiring designated caretakers who retrieve the drug on behalf of someone severely ill to undergo criminal background checks
Sunday, January 17, 2010
When will Corzine sign the medical marijuana bill?
I have been getting anxious inquiries asking when the bill will be signed.
I have no official information on this, but "people who know" say Corzine will sign the bill Tuesday morning ( Jan. 19).
Thursday, January 14, 2010
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