Jacob Bell
New Member
We are nearing the two-year anniversary of the signing of the medical marijuana law, and still the Christie administration is stumbling and bumbling, with no end in sight.
The governor's deliberate foot-dragging slowed things down at the start. But now, it's starting to look like sheer incompetence.
The latest twist came when Star-Ledger reporter Amy Brittain checked up on a nonprofit group that was chosen to operate one of the six planned clinics. Mostly through a check of public records, she firmly established that this group, Foundation Harmony, has no business doing such sensitive work.
Brittain found that the only doctor on the proposed medical advisory board, Aleksandr Martirosov, had been charged with insurance fraud and attempted grand larceny, and was named in a civil suit that accused him of being in a racketeering operation with members of the Russian mob.
A medical lab listed on the foundation's application was founded by a man accused of stealing money through a Ponzi scheme. Two of the proposed center's directors have declared bankruptcy.
It goes on, but that's enough. Even without criminal convictions, the state has discretion to say no.
But the state had no clue. Officials plan to check backgrounds only after centers get final approvals, even permission from local boards to build.
Obviously, checking this only at the end of a long process wastes time. And that means sick people must endure pain, for no good reason. What is the point of that?
News Hawk- Jacob Ebel 420 MAGAZINE
Source: blog.nj.com
Author: Star-Ledger Editorial Board
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: New Jersey On-Line LLC.
Website: State's incompetence on medical marijuana prolongs sick people's suffering
The governor's deliberate foot-dragging slowed things down at the start. But now, it's starting to look like sheer incompetence.
The latest twist came when Star-Ledger reporter Amy Brittain checked up on a nonprofit group that was chosen to operate one of the six planned clinics. Mostly through a check of public records, she firmly established that this group, Foundation Harmony, has no business doing such sensitive work.
Brittain found that the only doctor on the proposed medical advisory board, Aleksandr Martirosov, had been charged with insurance fraud and attempted grand larceny, and was named in a civil suit that accused him of being in a racketeering operation with members of the Russian mob.
A medical lab listed on the foundation's application was founded by a man accused of stealing money through a Ponzi scheme. Two of the proposed center's directors have declared bankruptcy.
It goes on, but that's enough. Even without criminal convictions, the state has discretion to say no.
But the state had no clue. Officials plan to check backgrounds only after centers get final approvals, even permission from local boards to build.
Obviously, checking this only at the end of a long process wastes time. And that means sick people must endure pain, for no good reason. What is the point of that?
News Hawk- Jacob Ebel 420 MAGAZINE
Source: blog.nj.com
Author: Star-Ledger Editorial Board
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: New Jersey On-Line LLC.
Website: State's incompetence on medical marijuana prolongs sick people's suffering
