PLUMSTED -- Medical marijuana farmers will find no home here until federal and state laws are consistent in regard to the drug's use and manufacture.

The Township Committee voted Wednesday night to adopt an ordinance requiring compliance with federal law. The ordinance was drafted to address inconsistencies in state and federal laws regarding medical marijuana cultivation and dispensaries after a company proposed a medical marijuana facility in neighboring Upper Freehold earlier this year.

"The purpose of this ordinance is about planning, not excluding," Plumsted Mayor Ronald Dancer said during Wednesday's meeting. "All five members of this Township Committee are very sensitive to and compassionate about the need for pharmaceutical drugs that can certainly provide a quality of life."

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Officials Say Effort Is Similar To Action That Has Been Taken In Other Communities

Howell officials have introduced an ordinance that if adopted would prevent marijuana to be used for medical purposes from being grown in Howell.

The proposed ordinance in Howell is similar to legislation that has been introduced and/or adopted in Upper Freehold Township in Monmouth County and Plumsted Township in Ocean County.

Specifically, the ordinance establishes compliance with federal law as criteria for approval by zoning and construction officials as well as other applicable township employees.

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The Upper Freehold Township Committee adopted an ordinance this month that is designed to ban medical marijuana facilities in its township ("Construction of pot greenhouses put on hold - Upper Freehold vote prevents town from violating federal law," Dec. 17). The committee said that it would not permit any facility that was engaged in an activity that is against federal law. The ordinance is designed to thwart the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act in favor of the federal law, the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

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UPPER FREEHOLD - The Township Committee unanimously adopted an ordinance Thursday meant to thwart an unpopular proposal to grow medical marijuana here, but it's not yet clear whether the nonprofit group that brought forth the plans will challenge the new law in court.

"We owe it to our community," Committeeman Robert Frascella said before voting in favor of an ordinance that would prohibit township officials from approving any application that violates federal law. "I don't see any benefit to our town."

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For those working to achieve sensible public-health policies in New Jersey, two important questions await answers in the waning days of 2011.

Question 1: The Legislature completed action last week on a bill to allow pharmacies to sell up to 10 hypodermic needles to adults without a prescription. By enabling intravenous drug addicts to obtain clean syringes, the measure would reduce the spread of HIV, hepatitis C and other blood-borne diseases. Will Gov. Chris Christie sign it into law? As of this writing, his administration says only that the bill "will get careful review and consideration."

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VINELAND -- A former Vineland Public Schools teacher, fired after a 2010 arrest for marijuana possession outside an Atlantic City gentleman's club, has filed a lawsuit to win back his job.

Jeremy Rasmussen filed the suit Oct. 11 in Cumberland County Superior Court, noting the drug charge subsequently was dismissed. The suit calls for "immediate reinstatement and restoration" to his teaching position, full reinstatement of fringe benefits, back pay, legal costs, and compensatory and punitive damages.

Rasmussen's 10-page suit charges his termination was the latest in a series of retaliations after he raised concerns about the school district's practices and charged that last year several Vineland High School teachers were "violating the grading process and creating fraudulent or improper grades" on standardized English final exams.

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In "A doctor's case for legal pot" (Oct. 30), Tom Moran discusses the failure of marijuana prohibition and presents an excellent argument for the removal of criminal penalties for its use.

Nearly 50 percent of Americans have tried marijuana at some point in their lives. The overwhelming majority of those use it casually, inflict absolutely no harm in the process and never progress to addiction or the use of serious drugs. In fact, less than 10 percent of those who try marijuana will ever develop a substance abuse disorder.

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TRENTON - A state lawmaker and medical marijuana advocates Monday accused the Christie administration of poor oversight of the state's medical marijuana program and questioned whether background checks of major players were being conducted.

The reaction came after The Sunday Star-Ledger reported that a member of the medical advisory board at one of the state's medical marijuana centers has ties to Solomon Dwek, conman and key informant in the now infamous "Jersey Sting."

"The governor needs to do a better job backgrounding the vendors," said Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Union), who co-sponsored the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act. "It was his handpicked vendors."

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A state lawmaker and medical marijuana advocates Monday accused the Christie administration of poor oversight of the medical marijuana program and questioned whether background checks of major players were being conducted.

The reaction came after the Sunday Star-Ledger reported that a member of the medical advisory board at one of the state's medical marijuana centers has ties to Solomon Dwek, conman and key informant in the now infamous "Jersey Sting."

"The governor needs to do a better job backgrounding the vendors," said Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Union), who co-sponsored the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act. "It was his handpicked vendors."

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CHESTERFIELD -- The township may become home to South Jersey's first medical marijuana growing facility.

Representatives from a West Trenton-based alternative treatment center have informed officials that they're scouting locations in the township for a growing facility, but have not named a specific location nor submitted a site plan application to the Planning Board.

Compassionate Care Foundation Inc. canceled plans to appear before the Township Committee several weeks ago and have not communicated since, said Mayor Larry Durr, acknowledging the many unanswered questions about the plan.

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TRENTON -- With New Jersey in need of an economic boost, medical marijuana advocates say the state should not overlook the lift the drug can provide when it's expected to become legally available at the end of the year.

The newly minted medical marijuana law will allow New Jersey to begin cashing in on what is a nearly $2 billion market for states with similar laws, Thomas Leto, president of the U.S. Medical Marijuana Chamber of Commerce, said at a news conference Wednesday.

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John Wilson, a 38-year-old multiple sclerosis (MS) patient from Somerset, is appealing his recent marijuana conviction to the New Jersey Supreme Court. The trial judge kept crucial facts from the jury, yet an appellate court last month supported the judge's decision. Now the Supreme Court will determine if compassionate justice is possible in New Jersey.

About 10 years ago, Wilson was diagnosed with MS, a progressive, neurological disease for which there is no known cure. Wilson's symptoms were headache, blurred vision and numbness from the waist down. Typically, the symptoms of MS worsen over time and may progress to total paralysis and death.

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FINALLY, the governor has given the go-ahead to New Jersey's medical marijuana program. It's a huge relief for people suffering excruciating pain and for the people who care for them.

Gov. Jon Corzine signed the medical marijuana law in January 2010.

But for 18 months, chronically ill patients who would qualify for the drug have had to wait as Governor Christie tinkered with the legislation and then put it on hold.

This last move occurred in April after the governor asked the Obama administration for reassurance it would not prosecute employees associated with the state-sanctioned program. Christie would allow nothing, he said, until he got an answer. It looked like a stalling tactic to us, since the federal government can't promise to not enforce its laws.

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After nearly two years of delays, Gov. Chris Christie this week announced some good news for those who have been waiting patiently for relief from chronic pain. The governor gave the go-ahead for the state's medical marijuana program to proceed.

He has asked the health department to "move forward as expeditiously as possible" in implementing the program, which growers believe could be in operation by the end of the year.

That operation will not be as extensive as previously envisioned, and it involves an arsenal of safeguards -- measures critics say make New Jersey's medical marijuana law the most stringent in the nation. They also believe it will be the most ineffectual in soothing the suffering of those whose pain has not responded to traditional treatment.

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We could use this space to decry the politics and cynicism that led to the use of marijuana for medical purposes being legal by statute but not legal in practice for a year and a half.

But we've been down that road before, chiding the Christie administration for its obvious delay tactics in implementing a law that was signed by Jon Corzine just before Chris Christie replaced him as governor.

So today we will praise Christie for coming around and instead of putting up more roadblocks, agreeing to knock them down and finally see to it that patients suffering from cancer, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma and other ailments - many of them terminal and painful - can legally use marijuana to relieve their symptoms.

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Gov. Chris Christie gave the green light to New Jersey's medical marijuana program on Tuesday, saying he believes the state's narrow initiative would not run afoul of federal prosecutors.

New Jersey's six approved dispensaries could be open by the end of the year, serving patients who have certain debilitating medical conditions such as multiple sclerosis or terminal cancer, or those whose conditions are not responding to other treatments.

Last month, Mr. Christie said he wouldn't move forward with the program until he received assurance that those carrying out the law wouldn't be prosecuted. Critics said he was deliberately trying to delay or kill the program for political reasons.

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After nearly 18 months of using delaying tactics to block implementation of a bill that would allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes, Gov. Chris Christie announced Monday he will allow the state to begin dispensing marijuana to patients who derive a demonstrated medical benefit.

The decision is long overdue. It will allow patients suffering from cancer, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma and other ailments, many of them terminal, to legally use marijuana to relieve their symptoms.

Of the 16 states that have legalized medical marijuana, New Jersey's rules will be among the most strict. Patients who use marijuana to relieve pain won't be allowed to grow their own marijuana at home. There will be just six nonprofit groups licensed to grow and sell to patients who are cleared by their doctors and the state.

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As a former undercover narcotics detective with the New Jersey State Police, I might be the last person you'd expect to see supporting a new marijuana decriminalization bill in the state Assembly. But my experience on the front lines of the so-called "war on drugs" is exactly what led me to support fundamental changes to failed prohibition policies.

And I am not alone in this belief. Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), a nonprofit education organization of 50,000 police officers, judges, prosecutors and others also understands that prohibiting marijuana doesn't prevent people from using the drug but it does create a number of additional problems.

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Gov. Chris Christie's been stalling on the state's medical marijuana program for very sick and dying patients, saying it won't move forward until federal authorities assure him there won't be arrests or prosecutions.

It's a needless delay tactic. After all, the Obama administration has repeatedly indicated it won't prosecute those who abide by their state's medical marijuana programs. (Marijuana violates federal laws, even though 16 states have made it legal for some medical purposes.)

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Dispensing in NJ at a Standstill As Questions Are Still Unanswered

TRENTON -- Advocates say they will consider suing the state if Gov. Chris Christie continues to stand in the way of implementing a law that legalizes marijuana for medical use.

But they're not enthusiastic about that possibility.

"I would hope that would be a last option. A court case can drag on for years and our concern is patients having access now," said Roseanne Scotti, New Jersey director of the Drug Policy Alliance.

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