Pubdate: Fri, 06 Jan 2012
Source: Courier-Post (Cherry Hill, NJ)
Copyright: 2012 Courier-Post
Contact:  http://www.courierpostonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/826
Author: Frank Fullbrook

POT FACILITY

Re: "Camden medical pot site pushed" (C-P, Nov. 26).

For the past year, I've been working to establish a medical marijuana 
growing/processing facility and an alternative treatment center 
(dispensary) here in Camden. I'm working with Camden property owner 
Ilan Zaken, who owns two ideal buildings at 11th Street and Wright 
Avenue in the Gateway office light industrial zone.

Our application for interpretation relief will be heard by the Camden 
zoning board on Feb. 6. We're arguing that our proposed use, the 
growing/processing facility only, is a permitted use in this zone. A 
dispensary use variance application would also be heard on Feb. 6.

Our project would create about 100 new jobs and preserve two 
ratebles. Our site is just two blocks from the Walter Rand 
Transportation Center, where the River LINE, PATCO line and most 
regional buses travel. It's also just one block from the two major 
highways, Interstate 676 and Admiral Wilson Boulevard, and it's 
several blocks from the nearest school and houses. It includes 
off-street parking.

This facility would serve thousands of South Jersey residents who 
have serious illnesses, including cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis 
and glaucoma, and whose symptoms are greatly relieved by medical 
marijuana. To enter the dispensary, each patient would need a special 
state-issued identification card and a registered doctor's written 
recommendation. It would not be open to the public.

In no way would this facility resemble any of the 150 open-air drug 
markets in Camden. Those markets are unregulated and operated by 
criminals. Our facility would be tightly regulated by the state 
health department.

FRANK FULBROOK

Camden
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom