The Jersey City Independent"

Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey board member Chris Goldstein

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Representatives from area marijuana-law reform groups gathered today in front of City Hall to protest a delay in implementing the state’s newly minted medical marijuana law.

The law, which former Gov. Corzine signed on his last day in office, is intended to make it possible for patients suffering from certain chronic and terminal illnesses to apply for permission to purchase limited quantities of marijuana for medical purposes. The law was scheduled to take effect in July, with regulations in place and six state-sanctioned dispensaries — also known as alternative treatment centers (ATCs) — to begin providing services in October.

However, as NJ Spotlight reported late last month, the Christie administration is seeking to delay the law’s implementation for six to 12 months. Changing the timetable specified in the bill would require new legislation.

“There are logistics involved in getting this done right,” said Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak last month.

But advocates say that any delay in implementing the long-awaited law is unacceptable. Ken Wolski, executive director of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey (CMMNJ) said today at City Hall that his organization “denounces the delay” and added “there is still time to publish regulations by July 1.”

Anne Davis, executive director of the New Jersey chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML-NJ), said that patients with a life expectancy of less than 12 months cannot afford to wait any longer.

“This is a law and there are no exceptions. There are patients with chronic or even terminal illnesses that cannot get an extension on life,” Davis said in an email statement released Monday.

Davis said today that she and other advocates “do not have any information as to why there’s a delay,” but expressed a “hope” that the administration is not intentionally blocking the implementation of the law because of philosophical opposition to legalized marijuana.

Wolski compared the proposed delay to the historical opposition of New Jersey officials to legal needle exchange programs, a practice that New Jersey became the last state in the union to decriminalize in 2006.

“I have seen how public health in New Jersey has suffered because of political considerations,” Wolski said. “I don’t want to see that happen to medical marijuana.”

Representatives from Gov. Christie’s office could not be immediately reached for comment.

As for the possibility of an ATC in New Jersey’s second-largest city, advocates and officials say it could happen. CMMNJ board member Chris Goldstein, who also works for NORML’s Philadelphia chapter, said in a Monday statement that Jersey City “is seeking to welcome local, non-profit medical marijuana providers once they can be licensed for operation.” He added today that the city “will help to ensure that the municipal infrastructure is in place.”

Victor Pinho, a Jersey City resident who works with CMMNJ as a community organizer, echoed Goldstein when he expressed his confidence that an ATC in Jersey City “will lay the groundwork” for the implementation of medical marijuana regulations statewide. Pinho, seen at left, told JCI that once regulations for ATCs are put in place at the state level, municipalities will determine whether they wish to create additional regulations, such as zoning laws and restrictions on where marijuana can be smoked.

“We’re trying to protect patients [and] protect the community,” Pinho said.

Mayor Healy, who appeared briefly at the press conference this afternoon to answer questions from the media, said he thinks medical marijuana is a “good idea” and said Jersey City is “awaiting its implementation.” But he cautioned that care is necessary to avoid “some of the pitfalls” seen in other states.

Recalling the “headshops” of the freewheeling 1970s, Healy said that other states that have implemented medical marijuana laws have opened themselves up to “a lot of charlatan stuff.”

“Hopefully we can do a solid, clean implementation,”Healy said. “We don’t want to have an open marijuana market here in Jersey City.”

Pointing to a report last week by National Public Radio and a 2007 study by the Marijuana Policy Project, Goldstein flatly denied the notion that the availability of medical marijuana leads to increased use or availability of the drug on the illicit market.

Goldstein also pointed out that residents from out of state would be prevented from obtaining medical marijuana in New Jersey, as the law limits purchasers to New Jersey residents only.

The limitations set by the state law are such that New Jersey’s medical marijuana law is termed the strictest in the nation. In fact, Goldstein said that the two-ounce-per-month maximum allowance under the law “is not enough for many patients.” Nonetheless, those suffering from chronic illness, such as Jennifer Lande, are anxious to see the law implemented. Lande, who lives in Medford, Burlington County, was at today’s press conference to oppose the delay.

Saying she suffers from a medical condition that causes “severe spasticity,” Lande fears that delays in access to medical marijuana could mean “losing weight [and] not being able to eat.”

“This legislation has taken years to pass,” Lande says. “It’s scary to think it could get delayed much further.”

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