Pubdate: Sun, 19 Oct 2014
Source: Trentonian, The (NJ)
Copyright: 2014 The Trentonian
Contact:  http://www.trentonian.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1006
Author: Scott Ketterer
Page: A3

MARCH TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA COMES TO NEW JERSEY STATEHOUSE

TRENTON - Several hundred people gathered in front of the New Jersey 
statehouse on Saturday to push for the legalization of marijuana. The 
event would be the second major gathering near the statehouse where 
the crowd would light up in defiance of the law. The last occurred in 
April on Easter. No arrests appear to have been made at the event 
which went off without much complication, despite one individual 
passing out around the beginning of the event. A relative told 
organizers that his brother suffers from anxiety and was overcome, he 
was transported to an area hospital by EMT's for evaluation.

For registered nurse Jennie Stormes the event would be a bittersweet 
goodbye. After years of fighting to get her son Jackson access to 
cannabis to treat his seizures in New Jersey, she has made the 
decision to uproot her family and head to Colorado where the drug is legal.

Her son has Dravet Syndrome, a debilitating condition that causes her 
son to suffer seizures which could take her son away from her at any 
point. Stormes said that the drugs that had been prescribed just 
weren't working and that cannabis was the only thing that worked. She 
said that while using cannabis her son has only had one seizure every 
three weeks.

"My son has failed 60 different combinations of drugs," said Stormes. 
"He has had the right frontal lobe of his brain removed and the two 
hemispheres split. He has a pacemaker for his brain in his chest - it 
does not work."

Stormes said that once she switched to cannabis, her son only has one 
seizure every three weeks as opposed to routine episodes of seizures. 
The mother said that she was making the move to Colorado to avoid 
being labeled a criminal for getting her son the treatment she 
believes is working better than what she had been trying. She called 
the events leading up to her switch to cannabis as a treatment 
"15-years of torture." Her son does not smoke it, however. The drug 
is administered to Jackson in the form of an oil.

"My son can die in this state," Stormes said. "He is going to live in 
Colorado."

The rally did not focus solely on legalizing marijuana solely for 
recreational use, other stories like Stormes' calling for the 
legalization of the drug for medical use.

Still, the rally ended in a bit of civil disobedience where the crowd 
moved across the street and lit up at 4:20 p.m.

The crowd lit joints or consumed edible items in their attempt to 
fight back on Saturday.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom