MedicalNeed
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TRENTON - New Jersey legalized medical marijuana eight months ago, but its advocates are finding that a law alone does not get the drug to patients.
About 70 activists - including potential patients, entrepreneurs who would like to sell pot, doctors who might prescribe it, and lawyers - gathered Saturday in Trenton to try to figure out what they would like a distribution system to look like and consider how to get policymakers on their side.
"Passing a law is the easy part of what you have to do," said Stephanie Scherer, director of Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana patients group. Some group members wore suit coats and ties, others Hawaiian shirts with prints of marijuana buds.
The advocates have several hopes for the regulations the state is devising. Among them: If the state seeks to set price controls, the advocates want the cannabis expensive enough that growers could afford to sell it but not too costly for patients, who say the drug can reduce pain and nausea and increase appetite.
Figuring out how to regulate medical marijuana has been a conundrum in the 14 states that have legalized it, largely because the businesses that sell it are running afoul of federal law - and so are their customers, even if their states allow it.
In New Jersey, allowing medical marijuana was one of the last acts of Gov. Jon S. Corzine, a Democrat who signed a law that is the most restrictive among those adopted across the country. But he left many of the details to his successor, Republican Gov. Christie.
While Christie supports the idea, he has been cautious about how to enact it.
In recent months, his administration looked into a novel plan that would have had the state's crop grown by Rutgers University and distributed by some of the state's hospitals. Rutgers, though, determined that playing such a role would have been illegal.
The state Department of Health and Senior Services is working on a registry for patients and developing regulations, spokeswoman Dawn Thomas said. After getting an extension from the original deadline of July 1, the state has until October to publish the regulations.
The state law calls for six nonprofit alternative treatment centers around the state to grow and sell the marijuana initially, though for-profit businesses could later get licenses.
Activists also are encouraged that state officials have met with them in recent weeks after months of refusing to do so.
"We left the meeting confident that the department of health is trying to implement the law," said Ken Wolski, executive director of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana of New Jersey. He said he was hopeful that patients would be able to buy marijuana legally by March.
NewsHawk: MedicalNeed: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: philly.com: Philadelphia local news, sports, jobs, cars, homes
Author: Geoff Mulvihill
Contact: Feedback - philly.com
Copyright: 2010 Philly Online, LLC.
Website:Medical-marijuana backers seek workable regulations | Philadelphia Inquirer | 08/22/2010
About 70 activists - including potential patients, entrepreneurs who would like to sell pot, doctors who might prescribe it, and lawyers - gathered Saturday in Trenton to try to figure out what they would like a distribution system to look like and consider how to get policymakers on their side.
"Passing a law is the easy part of what you have to do," said Stephanie Scherer, director of Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana patients group. Some group members wore suit coats and ties, others Hawaiian shirts with prints of marijuana buds.
The advocates have several hopes for the regulations the state is devising. Among them: If the state seeks to set price controls, the advocates want the cannabis expensive enough that growers could afford to sell it but not too costly for patients, who say the drug can reduce pain and nausea and increase appetite.
Figuring out how to regulate medical marijuana has been a conundrum in the 14 states that have legalized it, largely because the businesses that sell it are running afoul of federal law - and so are their customers, even if their states allow it.
In New Jersey, allowing medical marijuana was one of the last acts of Gov. Jon S. Corzine, a Democrat who signed a law that is the most restrictive among those adopted across the country. But he left many of the details to his successor, Republican Gov. Christie.
While Christie supports the idea, he has been cautious about how to enact it.
In recent months, his administration looked into a novel plan that would have had the state's crop grown by Rutgers University and distributed by some of the state's hospitals. Rutgers, though, determined that playing such a role would have been illegal.
The state Department of Health and Senior Services is working on a registry for patients and developing regulations, spokeswoman Dawn Thomas said. After getting an extension from the original deadline of July 1, the state has until October to publish the regulations.
The state law calls for six nonprofit alternative treatment centers around the state to grow and sell the marijuana initially, though for-profit businesses could later get licenses.
Activists also are encouraged that state officials have met with them in recent weeks after months of refusing to do so.
"We left the meeting confident that the department of health is trying to implement the law," said Ken Wolski, executive director of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana of New Jersey. He said he was hopeful that patients would be able to buy marijuana legally by March.
NewsHawk: MedicalNeed: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: philly.com: Philadelphia local news, sports, jobs, cars, homes
Author: Geoff Mulvihill
Contact: Feedback - philly.com
Copyright: 2010 Philly Online, LLC.
Website:Medical-marijuana backers seek workable regulations | Philadelphia Inquirer | 08/22/2010
