Smokin Moose
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex Moderator
Desperately ill patients who say they need marijuana to ease their suffering and opponents who fear the spread of drug abuse testified passionately Thursday before legislators considering a bill to legalize marijuana for medical use.
The proposed legislation would allow patients with debilitating illnesses, such as cancer, AIDS or multiple sclerosis, to smoke or eat marijuana to relieve pain, nausea and other symptoms. The bill would require a doctor's recommendation and would permit patients or their caregivers to possess six marijuana plants and a gram of pot. Patients would be required to register with the state for a user's card, which would protect them from prosecution by law enforcement. A caregiver could be designated on that card.
In their first hearing on the issue, however, members of the Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee said they were concerned that the measure does not provide patients with legal ways to obtain marijuana.
"We need a reliable source for people to go to," said Assemblywoman Joan M. Quigley, D-Jersey City.
"You don't want them to grow it in their dining room or get it behind the local high school."
California, one of 12 states to legalize medical marijuana use, has cooperatives where patients can purchase the drug, said Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, D-Trenton, lead sponsor of the bill.
"I'd be in favor of the state dispensing it, but the first step is to set up a legal defense for use," he said.
Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle, D-Englewood, a co-sponsor of the bill, suggested marijuana should be sold like other prescription drugs.
"Retail pharmacy might be the answer, rather than a cooperative," Huttle said.
Scott Ward, who was diagnosed with MS in 2006, told the committee that marijuana alleviates the symptoms of the disease and the side effects from the 12 prescription drugs 40 pills a day he takes. He said he smokes "less than a gram, less than one joint," a day. But the remedy has also stuck him in a predicament, said Ward, 25.
"Johns Hopkins recommended marijuana, but the government says you can't use it, because it's illegal," he said. "It's bad enough that you're sick. The risk is being arrested."
Nancy Fedder of Hillsboro said MS affects her legs with spasms and stiffness. Prescription drugs relieve the symptoms, but they make her wobbly and sleepy. A very small amount of marijuana helps more, she said.
"I measure it in puffs, not joints," she said. "Two or three puffs relieve the spasticity and pain."
Fedder said she buys her marijuana in New York City, even though that state has not legalized medical use of the drug. Other speakers, however, testified that legalizing marijuana for medicinal use could spur drug abuse. David Evans, executive director of the Drug-Free Schools Coalition, said the bill should be defeated because medical use of marijuana has not been approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration. He believes there are approved medications that work just as well.
Evans, an Englewood native and Pittstown resident, is a survivor of ocular cancer. He questioned how dosage would be determined.
"How much do you take?" he said. "We do not know the dose for any of these medical conditions, or how it interacts with other medications."
Evans said that the six marijuana plants the bill would permit each patient could produce "anywhere from 5,700 to 57,600 joints a year."
Candice Singer of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence-New Jersey also warned of abuse.
"That will create more access and perceived availability," Singer testified. "When there's a perceived availability, children will use it more."
This is the second time lawmakers have considered the issue. In June 2006, the state Senate health committee was discussing a similar bill and heard impassioned testimony from TV personality Montel Williams, who said he smokes marijuana daily to treat symptoms of muscular dystrophy. The measure did not pass.
Fast facts
Assembly bill 804 (the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act):
* Allows patients with debilitating, life-threatening diseases to use marijuana to relieve nausea, muscle spasms, chronic pain and other symptoms.
* Requires patients to have a doctor's recommendation to use marijuana, and to register with the state Health Department for a user's card.
* Permits each patient and his or her caregiver, if any, to possess six marijuana plants and one gram of usable marijuana.
* Does not provide a legal source for obtaining the drug.
* Would make New Jersey the 13th state to legalize the use of medical marijuana.
Source: Red Orbit
Copywrite: 2008 Record, The; Bergen County, N.J..
Contact: groves@northjersey.com
Website: redOrbit ? Science, Space, Technology, Health News and Information
The proposed legislation would allow patients with debilitating illnesses, such as cancer, AIDS or multiple sclerosis, to smoke or eat marijuana to relieve pain, nausea and other symptoms. The bill would require a doctor's recommendation and would permit patients or their caregivers to possess six marijuana plants and a gram of pot. Patients would be required to register with the state for a user's card, which would protect them from prosecution by law enforcement. A caregiver could be designated on that card.
In their first hearing on the issue, however, members of the Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee said they were concerned that the measure does not provide patients with legal ways to obtain marijuana.
"We need a reliable source for people to go to," said Assemblywoman Joan M. Quigley, D-Jersey City.
"You don't want them to grow it in their dining room or get it behind the local high school."
California, one of 12 states to legalize medical marijuana use, has cooperatives where patients can purchase the drug, said Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, D-Trenton, lead sponsor of the bill.
"I'd be in favor of the state dispensing it, but the first step is to set up a legal defense for use," he said.
Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle, D-Englewood, a co-sponsor of the bill, suggested marijuana should be sold like other prescription drugs.
"Retail pharmacy might be the answer, rather than a cooperative," Huttle said.
Scott Ward, who was diagnosed with MS in 2006, told the committee that marijuana alleviates the symptoms of the disease and the side effects from the 12 prescription drugs 40 pills a day he takes. He said he smokes "less than a gram, less than one joint," a day. But the remedy has also stuck him in a predicament, said Ward, 25.
"Johns Hopkins recommended marijuana, but the government says you can't use it, because it's illegal," he said. "It's bad enough that you're sick. The risk is being arrested."
Nancy Fedder of Hillsboro said MS affects her legs with spasms and stiffness. Prescription drugs relieve the symptoms, but they make her wobbly and sleepy. A very small amount of marijuana helps more, she said.
"I measure it in puffs, not joints," she said. "Two or three puffs relieve the spasticity and pain."
Fedder said she buys her marijuana in New York City, even though that state has not legalized medical use of the drug. Other speakers, however, testified that legalizing marijuana for medicinal use could spur drug abuse. David Evans, executive director of the Drug-Free Schools Coalition, said the bill should be defeated because medical use of marijuana has not been approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration. He believes there are approved medications that work just as well.
Evans, an Englewood native and Pittstown resident, is a survivor of ocular cancer. He questioned how dosage would be determined.
"How much do you take?" he said. "We do not know the dose for any of these medical conditions, or how it interacts with other medications."
Evans said that the six marijuana plants the bill would permit each patient could produce "anywhere from 5,700 to 57,600 joints a year."
Candice Singer of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence-New Jersey also warned of abuse.
"That will create more access and perceived availability," Singer testified. "When there's a perceived availability, children will use it more."
This is the second time lawmakers have considered the issue. In June 2006, the state Senate health committee was discussing a similar bill and heard impassioned testimony from TV personality Montel Williams, who said he smokes marijuana daily to treat symptoms of muscular dystrophy. The measure did not pass.
Fast facts
Assembly bill 804 (the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act):
* Allows patients with debilitating, life-threatening diseases to use marijuana to relieve nausea, muscle spasms, chronic pain and other symptoms.
* Requires patients to have a doctor's recommendation to use marijuana, and to register with the state Health Department for a user's card.
* Permits each patient and his or her caregiver, if any, to possess six marijuana plants and one gram of usable marijuana.
* Does not provide a legal source for obtaining the drug.
* Would make New Jersey the 13th state to legalize the use of medical marijuana.
Source: Red Orbit
Copywrite: 2008 Record, The; Bergen County, N.J..
Contact: groves@northjersey.com
Website: redOrbit ? Science, Space, Technology, Health News and Information
