Medical Marijuana's Future In New Jersey

[bobandtorey]

http://www.bensonnews-sun.com/articles/2010/11/23/news/news07.txt

 

 

Hurdles remain for state's medical marijuana law

 

<H4></H4><H5></H5>Published: Tuesday, November 23, 2010 5:25 PM CSTDana Cole/Wick Communications

 

Voter approval of Proposition 203, a ballot measure to legalize medical marijuana in Arizona, is just the first step in getting marijuana to patients with chronic, debilitating pain.

 

The Arizona Department of Health Services is now faced with developing regulations to determine who can legally use the marijuana and who will be dispensing it.

 

After ballots are canvassed Nov. 29, the state has 120 days before the law goes into effect. "The department is going to go ahead and get started with some of the implementation duties," Department Director Will Humble said. Teams of employees will try to ensure the new regulations are in place by April, but it could take longer for medical marijuana cardholders to get the drug from a licensed dispensary, Humble said.

 

Developing a computer infrastructure to identify cardholders and monitor how much marijuana they receive, along with verifying citizenship for all cardholders, are some of the challenges for the department.

 

"We need to develop a computer system online to ensure that patients are purchasing the amount of marijuana they're entitled to," he said. There is a 2.5 ounce limit every two weeks for each cardholder. Part of the database will require a reliable tracking system to determine inventories for the dispensaries as well as tight regulatory tracking for patients.

 

"We don't want the inventory going out the back door into the streets," said Humble, whose goal is to develop a system capable of tracking marijuana seed from the time it's planted until it reaches a patient's possession.

 

During the 120 days, the department will have to create the computer system that allows for that kind of tracking. The system will need to provide law enforcement with access to the system 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to check cardholders, as well as handle the record-keeping for dispensaries, physicians, inventory and applicants.

 

The law stipulates that all dispensaries must purchase their inventory from a licensed cultivation facility within the state of Arizona. The number of dispensaries will be tied directly to the number of pharmacies in the state. Based on current figures, there would be 124 eligible dispensary licenses, or one-tenth the number of pharmacies. In addition, every county must have at least one dispensary.

 

Patients who live more than 25 miles from one of the dispensaries will be allowed to grow their own marijuana plants, with a 12-plant limit. Since the department's authority is limited to the dispensary licenses and the cultivators that are tied to those licenses, Humble said the department is still trying to determine how it's going to monitor patients who are growing their own plants. It's one of many unanswered questions the department is facing in the implementation process.

 

Asked if licensed pharmacists will be able to dispense medical marijuana, Humble said a pharmacy could theoretically apply for a dispensary license once the application process opens up.

 

As the 15th state in the nation to legalize medical marijuana, Humble believes Arizona is in a good position to learn from the mistakes of other states. Using Colorado as an example, he said there are doctors who give patients marijuana recommendations after a 15-minute appointment and $150 check. Humble hopes to prevent those kinds of abuses in this state by defining a doctor-patient relationship that will need to be followed before marijuana can be prescribed.

 

The department hopes to develop an "in-house" computer program in order to save money and prevent residual costs. Staff time to set up the system is anticipated to come in between $600,000 and $800,000, which Humble says will be covered by fees that come through marijuana users and sellers.

 

A responsible initiative will require a full partnership with everyone, he added. It will involve inventory control, cardholders with a legitimate medical condition, doctors recommending only those patients with legitimate medical conditions, as well as cooperation between state and federal law enforcement.

 

As state health officials continue to work through the implementation process, Humble said many questions remain unanswered, including what qualifies as chronic pain, where growers will legally get seeds for the plants and how to track medical marijuana patients so abuses don't become a widespread problem.

 

News of voter approval for the medical marijuana measure came Nov. 13 once provisional ballots were counted, winning by 4,341 votes.

 

Humble spelled out his timeline in a news conference Monday.

 

The Arizona Department of Health Services will be posting an initial draft of its regulatory rules on Dec. 17, followed by a public comment period. People will be able to comment on the informal draft electronically, or in person at three public meetings in February.

 

The department expects to post the final regulations March 28 and accept the first applications for medical marijuana cards and dispensaries in April.

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[michiganmedclones]

Title says NJ story is about AZ... just wanted to let you know

[phaquetoo]

Just plain legalize it for all states, and we wont have to worry about who qualify's, any one that chooses to do it in there own homes and lives is there business, just like alcohol, only thing is people dont get alcohol poisoning and run inocent people over with there big red trucks,, when they use Weed!

 

Free The Weed!

Peace

Jim

 

enough is enough, they will make enough money from taxes we pay for our lites,electricity. nutes,and all else we need to grow, and there will always be people who would go to a dispensary for their pleasure, even a drug store if need be,,Yea id like a pack of wicked whacky tobaccy please! lol I wish!

[bobandtorey]

Title says NJ story is about AZ... just wanted to let you know

 

 

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/11/relaxing_of_nj_medical_marijua.html

 

 

sorry my bad

[puffaway]

TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie struck a deal Friday to partially rewrite his administration's proposed medical marijuana regulations, which had advocates and some lawmakers ready to revolt.

 

Under the new plan, medical cannabis could be grown and distributed at more places than Christie originally wanted. It also would allow terminally ill patients easier access to the drug, but an unusual potency cap would remain.

 

Christie, a Republican, predicted his approach could become a model for other states.

 

"This agreement reflects a good-faith compromise between the administration and the primary sponsor of the legislation on the best way to move forward on a responsible, medically based program that will avoid the significant fraud and criminal diversion that other states have experienced," Christie said Friday.

 

 

AP

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie

But it's not clear whether his compromise with Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, a Democrat from Princeton, will be enough to short-circuit a legislative uprising.

 

Just before Christie took office in January, lawmakers passed a bill to make New Jersey the 14th state to legalize marijuana for patients with certain conditions. Patients say pot helps them by easing pain and suppressing nausea, among other benefits.

 

Christie said he was comfortable with the concept of medical marijuana, but he wanted stricter controls than what the law seemed to call for and what the other states have imposed.

 

The state Health and Senior Services Department's proposed regulations reflected his position.

 

While the law called for six centers to grow and distribute the pot, the initial regulations called for two to grow it and four to distribute it.

 

The regulations also did something no other state has done: cap the level of tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychotropic chemical in marijuana that is more commonly known as THC, at 10 percent. Advocates consider that too weak and say drugs from illegal dealers can be twice as potent.

 

The regulations also called for all medical marijuana patients to show that they had exhausted conventional treatment options before getting legal access to pot. Lawmakers wanted that requirement for patients with treatable conditions like glaucoma and multiple sclerosis, but thought it was too restrictive for those with terminal illnesses.

 

In his deal with Gusciora, Christie kept the potency cap but allowed the number of treatment centers that legislators called for, and dropped the requirement that patients will terminal conditions exhaust other treatment options. Friday's deal also eliminates a regulation that advocates liked — allowing home delivery.

 

"I think it's the least the governor's office could do, to follow the law the way it's written," said Sen. Nicholas Scutari, a Democrat from Linden and a sponsor of medical marijuana regulation.

 

Scutari said he would need time to decide whether to move ahead with a vote scheduled for Dec. 13 that would invalidate the proposed regulations. Last month, the Assembly passed a similar resolution.

 

Gusciora said it's better for lawmakers to halt that effort, though.

 

"We can go to the Senate and declare the regulations null and void, but that would probably end the program," he said, because it could take years to hammer out new regulations. "Let's just get the program started. Down the road with studies and further advocacy, the department can always revise the regulations."

 

The activists who spent years pushing to allow medical marijuana aren't sure how they will respond to Friday's compromise, which caught them by surprise.

 

Roseanne Scotti, the New Jersey director of Drug Policy Alliance, said that on balance the compromise might mean less access for patients who could be helped by pot.

 

Chris Goldstein, spokesman for the Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey, said the potency cap could undermine the program entirely, because the law also caps the amount of marijuana patients could have per month.

 

"Doctors need to know that medical marijuana is going to be effective for their patients," he said. "Are they going to be recommending marijuana and essentially saying, 'You're going to have to find it on the underground market?'"

 

 

 

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/christie_makes_deal_on_medical_marijuana_BfNLJcDmHHuk9d2pgHxauK#ixzz175ULG0y9

[bobandtorey]

http://www.app.com/article/20110117/OPINION01/101180303/Medical-marijuana-delay-unacceptable

 

T he last thing chronically and terminally ill residents of New Jersey need is more delay in easing their suffering. They should not have to keep waiting for implementation of the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act. It's been more than a year, and not one cannabis plant has been grown for the program.

 

 

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True enough. But Scutari has scheduled a hearing Thursday with the Democratic-controlled Senate Health Committee that could lead to a rewrite of the rules. Other Democrats said they fear the rewrite process could significantly delay the launch of the program.

 

That would be unfortunate. Especially since Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, D-Mercer, says Christie already has made adequate changes, with the governor upping the number of facilities to grow and distribute the marijuana to six, as the law calls for.

 

He says the amendments "encompass parts of the compromise I had reached with the governor. They're not perfect, but it's a starting point. I believe half a loaf is better than no loaf."

 

Last month, Christie struck a deal with Gusciora, a Democrat from Princeton who pushed for legal cannabis for patients, to make changes to his regulations. Among them: allowing six establishments to both grow and distribute the drug — as the law called for.

 

Previously, Christie had wanted only two places to be allowed to grow it and four to distribute it. But Scutari, the Legislature's other chief advocate of medical marijuana, didn't agree to the deal. And 10 days after it was struck, the Senate sided with him and voted to tell the administration that the regulations didn't meet the Legislature's intent.

 

The vote gave the Christie administration 30 days to draft new regulations. Christie hasn't complied with that resolution — or even formally introduced the reworked regulations, although the administration says those reworked rules would be made public on Thursday.

 

Scutari said this is likely the only time significant changes can be made, adding: "We only have one shot with this. We have to get it right."

 

If there is one thing certain about the law of the land, it is that it can be changed. It's time to get the program going and alleviate the suffering of so many New Jersey residents.

 

The Legislature should wait until those belated regulations are announced before sending the whole program back to the starting gate.