Pubdate: Sun, 09 Dec 2012
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
Copyright: 2012 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc
Contact:  http://www.philly.com/inquirer/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/340
Author: Jan Hefler
Page: B2

SLOW START FOR MEDICAL POT

N.J.'S First Licensed Dispensary Served Only 20 Patients on Its First Day Open.

For many advocates of medical marijuana, the opening of New Jersey's 
first dispensary was a milestone worth celebrating, even though the 
door was cracked open long enough to let in only 20 patients that day.

So far, 354 seriously ill people have state-issued licenses to buy 
the drug, but Greenleaf Compassion Center in Montclair said it could 
accommodate only a limited number when it finally opened Thursday, 
three months later than it had anticipated.

The rest will have to wait for a call setting up an appointment, 
Greenleaf said on its Facebook page. They will be contacted in the 
order in which they signed up.

Roseanne Scotti, director of New Jersey Drug Policy Alliance, an 
organization that pushed for the legalization of medical marijuana, 
said: "We're thrilled. This really was a momentous, historic moment, 
the first time ever that seriously ill people have safe access to marijuana."

She acknowledged that it had been a "five-year battle" and that work 
still needed to be done to make the drug available to all seriously 
sick people who would use it to alleviate pain and nausea.

After two years of lobbying, the measure was signed into law three 
years ago, but there were delays in setting up the regulations and 
the approval process. Five other nonprofits were preliminarily 
approved to set up dispensaries, but none of them is ready to open.

Rich Caporusso of Medford, who has muscle spasms and an intestinal 
disease, said Greenleaf's opening was a painful disappointment.

Though Caporusso was among the first to register for the program in 
August, he did not make the opening-day cut. When he called to see if 
he would have an appointment next week, he said, he was told that 
Greenleaf would be closed Friday and that he should wait for a call 
about when it will reopen. He said he was also told he would be 
allowed to buy only a half-ounce - not the two ounces allowed per 
month by state law - because the supply was limited.

"I'm just so disgusted. ... Nothing was really accomplished," he said.

In April, Caporusso sued the state Department of Health, claiming 
delays in the program caused him unnecessary suffering. He said his 
hopes rose when he heard Greenleaf was opening, but then were dashed.

The drive to the Essex County dispensary will take him two hours, and 
he said that was hardly worth it, since t he amount has been reduced. 
Unlike in most of the 17 states and Washington, D. C., that have 
medical marijuana laws, the drug will have a reduced potency under 
New Jersey's stringent regulations.

Some patients are trying to be upbeat about waiting for the call to 
pick up their marijuana.

"Assuming the pace doesn't pick up ... I would be getting it on the 
10th day," said Jay Lassiter, a Cherry Hill man with HIV who lobbied 
for the law. He said he was just guessing based on when he signed up, 
a week or so after the registry opened.

"Christmas might be coming early for me?" he asked.

Ken Wolski, executive director of Coalition for Medical Marijuana-New 
Jersey, said he had mixed feelings about Greenleaf's opening.

"Some people are getting access to medicine, but I have to look at 
the bigger picture," he said. Tens of thousands of hospice patients 
in New Jersey qualify for the drug, but only a few hundred have been 
able to meet the state's prerequisites for obtaining it, he said.

"Getting marijuana to 300 people after three years is not a 
successful program," he said.

Julio Valentin, a cofounder of Greenleaf, told reporters on opening 
day that he was excited to finally be in business, but said the 
nonprofit's "intention was never to take care of the entire state of 
New Jersey. ... It's a heavy burden."

Valentin did not return calls or e-mails asking when Greenleaf would 
see more patients.

The other dispensaries - including one planning to open in Egg 
Harbor, Atlantic County, in the spring - are still finding locations 
or awaiting state approvals.

The day after Greenleaf opened, State Sen. Nick Scutari (D., Union), 
an author of the medical marijuana law, said: "I understand people's 
frustrations. ... But it is a day to celebrate that we got it off the 
ground. ... It's a work in progress."

He said he would continue to push for changes so that the program 
could reach more people.

"It's going to get better," he said. "It's been a long and slow 
process, but we're starting an industry from the ground up."

Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D., Mercer), another primary sponsor of 
the law, said the process had been bittersweet.

"I realize, in any opening of anything, there have to be kinks to be 
worked out," he said. "That said, it's up to the Department of Health 
to move this program faster and to assist Greenleaf and any other 
potential dispensary in moving along. We need to keep the patients in mind."

Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon (R., Monmouth), another backer of 
medical marijuana, said he was confident the program would pick up the pace.

"I think the process will move faster now," he said. ... "It's 
brand-new, but a dispensary has opened."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom