Alcohol and tobacco are more dangerous than marijuana. That's the opinion of the majority of 803 New Jersey adults quizzed in a Monmouth University/Asbury Park Press released this morning. Nearly 60 percent of those asked said alcohol (59 percent) and tobacco (58 percent) pose more of a hazard than marijuana. The same poll also revealed that Garden State residents are split on whether to legalize marijuana. About 48 percent are in favor of making it lawful to purchase a small amount of marijuana. Another 47 percent oppose the idea. [continues 127 words]
Regarding "Save lives: Legalize, regulate and tax marijuana " (Other views April 1): Upon first glance at the opinion by Jack A. Cole, it was my impression that the article was written as an April Fool's joke. Unfortunately it was not. The misstatements of facts contained therein were glaring. According to a study published by the National Institute of Drug Abuse in January 2014, marijuana use has been increasing among teenagers since the mid-to late-2000's. The article believes there is a correlation between the legalization movement and the increase, because teenagers perceive that the use of marijuana isn't dangerous or can lead to debilitating life circumstances. [continues 165 words]
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - A NJ Transit clerk who was suspended for using medical marijuana to treat his end-stage renal failure has sued the agency. The suit filed by Charlie Davis, 57, may be the first of its kind in New Jersey, where medical marijuana has been legally available since 2012. Davis says the drug helps ease pain in his nerve-damaged legs and makes sleeping easier. According to the lawsuit filed in March in state court in Newark, Davis was bumped from his job as a procurement clerk by a more senior employee in December. He applied for a position in the field as a railroad block operator. [continues 202 words]
Acknowledging that laws against marijuana use are about as effective as those employed during Prohibition, the New Jersey State Municipal Prosecutors Association has overwhelmingly recommended legalizing pot. While it's advocacy you would expect from NJ Weedman, it's a stunning stance for the very people who prosecute pot users. That official endorsement signifies that legalizing pot for recreational use in the Garden State is much more than a pipe dream. The prosecutors favor legalization because of the damage a marijuana possession conviction has on a person's reputation, says Jon-Henry Barr, the association president. [continues 337 words]
CAMDEN - As deaths from heroin and powerful painkillers skyrocket nationwide, governments and clinics are working to put a drug that can reverse an opiate overdose into the hands of more paramedics, police officers and the people advocates say are the most critical group - people who abuse drugs, and their friends and families. Supporters say the opportunity to save potentially thousands of lives outweighs any fears by critics that the promise of a nearby antidote would only encourage drug abuse. At least 17 states and the District of Columbia allow naloxone - commonly known by the brand name Narcan - to be distributed to the public, said Jeffrey Levi, executive director of Trust for America's Health, a national nonprofit that focuses on preventive health care. And at least 10 of those states allow for third parties, such as a family member or friend of an intravenous drug user, to be prescribed it. [continues 1045 words]
TRENTON - An election funded by weed apparently isn't legal. The New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission has fined Robert Edward Forchion Jr. - a.k.a. Weedman - over $13,000 for not appropriately filing all the election contributions he has received during his last three election campaigns. "At the time the only way I could finance my election was through the sale of marijuana, how do they want me to file paperwork for that?" questioned Weedman. "I couldn't say I sold 2 ounces of weed for 1,000 (campaign) flyers." [continues 499 words]
"Prosecutors are right on pot" (editorial, April 1) makes sense. Consumption of marijuana for both medical and recreational use is part of mainstream America, transcending generations. Consumers have voted with their dollars, making marijuana consumption a multibillion-dollar enterprise today. Legalize it and add a tax. Revenues will more than cover the costs of any abuse. Our tax dollars will be better used if police and judges spend more time prosecuting those who commit real crimes than going after those who consume or distribute marijuana. [continues 105 words]
[image caption] Jobs seekers line up around the block to attend CannaSearch, Colorado's first cannabis job fair, on March 13, 2014 in Denver. The N.J. State Municipal Prosecutors Association has endorsed a marijuana legalization bill in New Jersey that is modeled after Colorado. (Getty Images) TRENTON - A bill calling for legalizing the possession of up to an ounce marijuana has been endorsed by the New Jersey State Municipal Prosecutors Association, which believes the money spent trying these cases is "silly," the association's president said. [continues 481 words]
FOR 44 YEARS the United States has fought the war on drugs, wasting 1.5 trillion of our tax dollars on ever-harsher policies that have been complete failures. During that time, we made more than 48 million arrests for nonviolent drug violations, nearly half of which were for marijuana offenses. And yet today, drugs are cheaper, more potent and far easier for our children to access than they were when I started buying them in 1970 at the start of my 14-year assignment as an undercover detective in the New Jersey State Police. [continues 646 words]
Dear Editor of The Trentonian, Where else can politicians find millions of citizens who can hardly wait to pay taxes (NJ Senator Wants Tax On Marijuana To Pay For Roads, Mar. 25, 2014)? Another important reason to end cannabis (marijuana) prohibition that doesn't get mentioned is because it increases hard drug addiction rates. It puts citizen who choose to use the relatively safe plant into contact with people who often also sell hard drugs. Further, government claims heroin is no worse than cannabis and methamphetamine and cocaine is less harmful by insisting cannabis is a Schedule I substance alongside heroin, while methamphetamine and cocaine are only Schedule II substances. [continues 51 words]
In reference to The Star-Ledger's March 18 article, "Report presents road map to fight youth addiction," I applaud the efforts and resolve of the Governor's Council on Alcoholism & Drug Abuse's report related to the state's heroin problem. Based on the number of fatalities statewide and in Ocean County, this is truly a public health crisis. I agree with task force chairman Frank Greenagel's statement, "It is time to confront our demons. Our state needs an intervention." This intervention starts with looking at how prescribers, insurance and treatment are part of this complex relationship. [continues 87 words]
Your newspaper published another smoke screen article that doesn't identify the real issue about the pain medication/heroin epidemic that's plaguing our society. Until the reason people need to use anything at all is understood, nothing's going to change. If pain medication/heroin didn't exist, these same people would use something else. But it's not the person doing this; it's because of the way that person's mind has been conditioned. I know because I was this way for many years. I'm not this way today because I understand how my mind caused this. The only reason drugs, alcohol, sex, cigarettes, etc., are used to begin with is because the mind becomes agitated and has never developed the tools to quiet these compulsions. This is real; the war we're fighting is with ourselves. Michael Cupo, Clark [end]
The debate on the legalization of recreational marijuana is a topic that has been hitting a record high in publicity right now. Very recently, Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-22) proposed a bill to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in New Jersey. This has sparked public controversy, as well as the input of Governor Chris Christie, who has stated several times in the past that he is very much against the legalization of marijuana for recreational use. Legal prohibition of marijuana does nothing to curb its production or consumption. Those opposed to the legalization of recreational marijuana are convinced that if the drug were legalized, inexperienced smokers would all of a sudden get caught up in this supposedly bad habit. Christie has been very vocal about his opinion against the legalization of recreational marijuana. [continues 618 words]
TRENTON (AP) - A New Jersey lawmaker wants to legalize marijuana, tax it and use the revenue to pay to fix the state's roads and bridges. State Sen. Nicholas Scutari announced his plan Monday, acknowledging that opposition from Gov. Chris Christie could seriously hinder it but pointing out, "He's not going to be governor forever." Scutari, a Democrat, said allowing adults to legally buy marijuana to use recreationally would curb the drug sales-fueled crime that grips several New Jersey cities and reduce the number of people who get criminal records for pot possession. He also said regulators could ensure the safety of the pot people buy legally. [continues 462 words]
Nick Scutari, Who Helped Get Medical Marijuana Legalized, Cited Colorado's Revenue Windfall. A prime author of New Jersey's medical marijuana law wants the state now to emulate Colorado and legalize the recreational use of pot by adults. Citing the windfall Colorado is enjoying from marijuana sales, State Sen. Nick Scutari (D., Union) announced Monday that he had drafted a bill to legalize marijuana for recreational use and hoped to get it assigned to a committee as soon as possible and then posted for a vote. [continues 445 words]
LEONIA - A long-serving fire lieutenant has been told to turn in his gear after being deemed ineligible to serve because of a nearly two decade old marijuana conviction. "I'm not feeling very happy," said Lt. Arnold Davenport, who, after three decades as a volunteer firefighter, was informed this week that he could no longer be a member of the department because of his criminal history. Davenport is the first Leonia firefighter to be ousted from the department as a result of new regulations adopted by the Borough Council last fall, following the alleged molestation of a 3-year-old boy at the borough firehouse by a developmentally disabled teen who had hoped to join the department. Those rules - which gave the council more oversight over the department - require firefighters to undergo physicals and criminal background checks every two years in order to remain eligible to serve. [continues 355 words]
Marijuana ads on television? The possibility used to be a pipe dream for some folks. Suddenly, it's a reality. The first marijuana ad to appear in a national TV campaign, viewable on various websites, doesn't talk about weed right away. It talks about something truly fishy. "Yo, you want sushi?" says an actor playing a seedy looking street dealer in a coat lined with little strips of raw fish. "Ain't nobody sellin' but me." A female voiceover interrupts. "You wouldn't buy your sushi from this guy," she says, "so why would you buy your marijuana from him?" [continues 595 words]
NEWARK - The Scotch Plains family who waged a public fight to change New Jersey law so they could obtain medical marijuana for their severely ill young daughter moved to Colorado on Friday, saying that's where they'll find a strain of the drug they hope can save her life. Brian and Meghan Wilson say their battle in New Jersey, which included a public plea to Gov. Chris Christie, led to modest changes in the state's strict law, but isn't enough to help their 2 1/2-year old daughter, Vivian, who has a potentially fatal form of epilepsy. [continues 726 words]
TRENTON - On Thursday, just steps away from Gov. Chris Christie's Statehouse office, a slew of desperate and distraught parents begged the administration to re-evaluate the stringent guidelines of the state's current medical marijuana law to help get the medicine their suffering children need to live a better life. "My daughter died because she didn't have a chance," said Phil Joana, whose 15-month-old daughter, Sabina Rose, died in December after suffering a 24hour Tonic clonic seizure. The baby was diagnosed with Drevet Syndrome and was in arduous process of obtaining a state issued Medical Marijuana Card when she passed away. "She only celebrated one birthday, one time putting her feet in the water and only one Christmas." [continues 358 words]
Regarding Ronald Fraser's guest op-ed "How America went to pot" (Feb. 4), the days when politicians can get away with confusing the drug war's tremendous collateral damage with a comparatively harmless plant are coming to an end. If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to subsidize violent drug cartels, prohibition is a grand success. The drug war distorts the dynamics of supply and demand so that big money grows on little trees. If the goal is to deter use, marijuana prohibition is a catastrophic failure. The United States has almost double the rate of marijuana use as the Netherlands, where marijuana is legal. [continues 76 words]
We need a fresh perspective on the legalization of marijuana. Most of the progress in legalization has been for medicinal purposes. The debate over legalization for recreational purposes traditionally concerns questions over whether the detrimental effects of the drug are sufficiently bad to outlaw it. The issue might be recast in terms of what societal good the widespread recreational use of marijuana can produce. The conclusion might be that recreational use should be legalized and encouraged. A realist would not pretend marijuana will cure all our current ills. But some of its effects, specifically the psychological effect characterized as "mellowing," may be of value. [continues 67 words]
N.J. Lawmakers Heard Ideas, From Adding Sites and Qualifying Ailments to Cutting Fees. Four years after New Jersey became the 14th state to adopt a medical-marijuana program, legislators took testimony from dispensary operators and patient advocates who are proposing changes to give the struggling program a jumpstart. After the hour-long Assembly Regulatory Oversight Committee hearing ended Thursday, Chairman Reed Gusciora (D., Mercer) said the legislators would discuss the issues and "hopefully make improvements to the program" by introducing legislation and working with the state [continues 526 words]
In 2012, two states legalized the recreational sale and use of marijuana. There are already 16 states that have decriminalized marijuana possession in addition to the 20 states and the District of Columbia that have liberated their medical marijuana markets. Colorado - the landmark state for the end of marijuana prohibition - recorded more than $5 million in sales on their first week of business. It is clear that America's opinion has changed regarding pot laws when such news grabs our nation's headlines. [continues 749 words]
Recently, The Daily Princetonian reported on the arrest of a University student for the possession of less than 50 grams of marijuana and three Ritalin pills. Almost every year, a small number of University students have the misfortune of being caught with a small amount of marijuana. Given the legal status of the drug, these students immediately face strict University punishments as well as possible legal repercussions. However, when underage students are caught illicitly using alcohol, the University often only issues warnings and generally does not compel students to face the criminal justice system. Given this inequity as well as national trends surrounding marijuana, the Editorial Board believes that the University should modify its current policy and lower the level of punishment for marijuana possession to that of alcohol violations. [continues 788 words]
They Work to Turn Marijuana into Oil That Children Can Take to Curb Seizures TRENTON, N.J. - Tina DeSilvio is so determined to give her teenage daughter marijuana, she is mixing cannabis buds with 180-proof alcohol and letting the concoction evaporate into a sticky, olive-green substance to add to coconut oil. Jenna, 14, cannot smoke marijuana, but she can swallow a half-milliliter of the oil - a few drops - when it is stirred into applesauce or yogurt four times a day. [continues 920 words]
Parents Are Creating Marijuana Usable for Sick Kids TRENTON, N.J. - Tina DeSilvio is so determined to give her teenage daughter marijuana, she is mixing cannabis buds with 180-proof alcohol and letting the concoction evaporate into a sticky, olive-green substance to add to coconut oil. Jenna, 14, cannot smoke marijuana, but she can swallow a half-milliliter of the oil - a few drops - when it is stirred into applesauce or yogurt four times a day. "Don't I sound like the mother of the year?" Ms. DeSilvio asks, chuckling. Her yellow kitchen counter displays a minutely calibrated scale, a dropper, a 9-by-11-inch glass baking dish and a clear, tightly sealed plastic container of pungent medical marijuana. [continues 1108 words]
I vehemently object to The Star-Ledger publishing an essay ("Legalizing pot would be good for the Garden State, Feb. 10") by an executive of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, a lobby group, telling me what's good for my state. As a retired forensic scientist, I dispute her allegations that marijuana is not a gateway drug and I challenge Sabrina Fendrick to quantitate the physiological, biological and emotional damage caused by cannabis. We don't need another damaging drug on the market. Michael Emanuel, Parlin [end]
Re "Group: Recreational pot a 'nightmare' " (Monitor Local & State section, Jan. 31): Patrick Kennedy is out of touch with reality. He said, "I'm against legalization because I don't want to see a for-profit industry whose only motive is to get more customers." Well, Mr. Kennedy, exactly what is the liquor industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the tobacco industry or any other industry in it for? To help people? Do you think the people of New Hampshire are that stupid? [continues 210 words]
Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman is yet another victim of the war on drugs. Prohibition is not working. It is time to try something new. Hoffman, 46, was found dead in the bathroom of his Manhattan apartment last Sunday morning, apparently the victim of a heroin overdose. According to widely published reports, there was a syringe in his arm. Police found the place littered with small plastic bags stamped "Ace of Spades" or "Ace of Hearts" - brand names that street dealers use. [continues 568 words]
Ronald Fraser, in examining the demise of the prohibition of cannabis (marijuana) in his guest opinion "How America went to pot" (Feb. 4), hit the bull's eye. However, cannabis isn't a "drug," but rather a God-given plant, as described on the very first page of the Bible. A sane or moral argument to imprison responsible adults who use cannabis doesn't exist. - -- Stan White, Dillon, Colo. [end]
When asked, "Do you think the use of marijuana should be made legal, or not?" a 2013 Gallup poll found that 58 percent of American adults responded, "Yes," compared to 31 percent in 2000 and only 12 percent in 1969. Let's consider two ways this huge shift in public opinion might be explained. One contends that misguided and lopsided enforcement of the marijuana prohibition laws is the cause. The other more fundamental view contends that Americans simply no longer see any reason to continue outlawing this relatively benign substance. [continues 616 words]
As the debate over the legalization of marijuana gathers steam, newly invigorated pro- and anti-weed groups are erecting catchy billboards outside MetLife Stadium as the Big Game nears. The Marijuana Policy Project is launching two billboards Thursday night near the stadium to tackle a billboard put up on Wednesday by Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), a group that wants marijuana to remain illegal. The competing billboards play with images of footballs, the brain, weed, and alcohol to score points on the eve of the Super Bowl. [continues 178 words]
Every so often, a column I write goes nationwide. That wasn't the case this past Monday when I wrote about the absurd situation Ed Forchion (the NJWEEDMAN, or just plain Weedman, if you like) found himself in. Nope. It didn't go national. went worldwide. Very (very) long story short: Forchion, who has a rare form of bone cancer, was serving a nine month sentence related to a marijuana charge. And every 20 days, the judge would let him out of jail so he could ... smoke marijuana. [continues 730 words]
Why do heroin and other illegal-drug deaths often make the front page ("Heroin overdoses increase in Mercer County," Jan. 26), while deaths caused by tobacco rarely get mentioned, even in the obituary notices? Our annual tobacco vs. all-illegal-drugs-combined kill ratio is about 23.5 to 1 (400,000 vs. 17,000). And the vast majority of our 17,000 deaths from illegal drugs are because the drugs are illegal. Because certain (politically selected) drugs, such as heroin, are illegal, they are of unknown quality, unknown purity and unknown potency - just like alcohol was when it was illegal. - -- Kirk Muse, Mesa, Az. [end]
The two above-the-fold stories in Sunday's edition, side by side, were the Mack corruption trial ("Two tell of attempts to pass cash to Mack," Jan. 26) and the widespread heroin epidemic ("Heroin makes a deadly comeback - The drug, cheap and widely available, leads to surge in overdoses"). The Mack story includes mention of the running of an oxycodone distribution ring. The heroin story talks about oxycodone leading to heroin use and addiction. (That is, if you are one of the lucky ones who doesn't die before seeking treatment.) I finished my coffee, got a splitting headache, and went back to bed. - -- Karen Flicker, Hopewell Township [end]
WASHINGTON - "Among the many oddities that have arisen from marijuana legalization in Washington and Colorado is this: It can be easier to get through airport security with a bag of weed than a bottle of water." That's the opening sentence of an Associated Press dispatch this week from Colorado: http://bit.ly/1iewjDM The article goes on to explain: "The Transportation Security Administration makes travelers empty their water bottles, but when agents encounter personal amounts of marijuana at security checkpoints, they typically don't call the DEA or FBI." This is madness, right? Wrong. It's perfectly sane. In fact, it illustrates how strange the world can seem to us when our intuitions and traditions are replaced by rationality. [continues 239 words]
A well-known marijuana activist has been released from jail, his attorney said this afternoon. A Burlington County judge reconsidered the sentence imposed on Ed Forchion, known as "NJ Weedman," after a motion made by his attorney. Forchion's attorney, who asked not to be named, said today the judge re-sentenced his client to "time served," meaning he will not have to return to jail. Last year Forchion was sentenced to an unusual 270-day staggered jail sentence, allowing him to serve his time in 20 20-day periods of incarceration. The staggered sentence allowed Forchion to have 10-day periods of release to receive treatment for cancerous giant cell tumors in his legs. Forchion says he needs medical marijuana to ease the pain caused by the tumors. [continues 90 words]
Longtime marijuana activist Ed "NJWeedman" Forchion has been sprung from the joint. Superior Court Judge Charles Delehey vacated Forchion's 270-day sentence during a hearing Thursday at the Burlington County Courthouse in Mount Holly. Delehey instead imposed a time-served sentence, meaning the Rastafarian author and self-proclaimed "Superhero to Potheads" is officially done his term at the Burlington County Jail after serving 130 days. The hearing effectively ended four years of legal wranglings, including two trials, after Forchion, a resident of both Pemberton Township and California, was arrested following a traffic stop in Mount Holly in 2010, when an officer found a pound brick of pot in the trunk of his rental car. [continues 738 words]
State Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, is taking the right step for the Garden State by introducing a bill to legalize marijuana for all adults over 21. Other states have either legalized or are in the process of legalizing marijuana. Doing so in New Jersey will create a viable revenue stream for the state while preventing the arrest of upstanding citizens who use marijuana both medicinally and recreationally. As a medical marijuana patient who constantly uses marijuana, I know firsthand that marijuana is a safe, beneficial substance that should be lawful for everyone. If any legislator is unsure about legalizing marijuana, he or she is welcome to smoke a joint with me. Eric Hafner, Toms River [end]
To be perfectly clear: Ed Forchion is currently in prison stemming from a marijuana charge, and the same judge that sentenced him to nine months in Burlington County Jail allows Forchion 10 days each month to fly to California to smoke marijuana. Again: Forchion is in jail due to marijuana and he gets out of jail once a month - for 10 days - to go smoke marijuana. Catch-22? More like a Fugazi-420. Forchion - the NJWEEDMAN - has been in the middle of the marijuana madness for almost two decades now, but this situation ... well, you don't need to be stoned to feel all dazed and confused about it. [continues 486 words]
Words of wisdom learned from personal experience yielded a rather simple necessity: You have to obey the rules. Obedience is just a part of life although guidelines enforced in one venue may not necessarily serve as laws in some other area. Actually, rules for young children vary from classroom, to their home, or when they visit their grandparents. Young life is when children receive their introduction to being a law-abiding citizen. A toddler may receive detention for putting his feet on a school desk, a verbal reprimand or timeout for a similar offense at home, while Pop-Pop and Nana will wrap their entire homes in plastic so that junior gets away clean, so to speak. [continues 703 words]
Newark, NJ - Both teams in the Super Bowl come from states that recently legalized marijuana. Advocates are capitalizing on that to make their case for doing it in the other 48 states too. The Marijuana Policy Project paid for five billboards to go up in New Jersey close to the site of the Super Bowl. They all attempt to make the case that the NFL's pot policy is hypocritical in a league where players regularly suffer serious injury. "Taking a big hit of marijuana poses far less harm to an adult than taking a big hit from a linebacker or a big shot of vodka," MPP spokesman Mason Tvert said. "It's irrational to punish those players who make the choice to use marijuana." [continues 153 words]
To the Editor: President Barack Obama must be ignorant of the facts, or just made a stupid statement when he said recently that marijuana is no more dangerous than alcohol. This is ludicrous. His own Office of National Drug Control Policy says that there are more carcinogens in marijuana smoke than tobacco smoke. Studies have shown that men in their 20s and 30s can have permanent brain damage, poor memory and reduced I.Q. after smoking marijuana. We've spent billions of taxpayer dollars warning our youth on the dangers of drugs, and these efforts have been undercut by the president's comments. [continues 63 words]
"I'll never do heroin. I'll never do it," Jonathan Macciocca told himself. Despite six years hopelessly addicted to prescription medications, he still had hard and fast limits about heroin. But in the throes of withdrawal from oxycodone, the appeal of the more dangerous drug finally caught up to him. "The next thing you know, I'm detoxing from the prescription meds when someone says, 'If you do this heroin, you're not going to feel that withdrawal anymore, you're not going to be sick,'" Macciocca said, relaying the internal back-and-forth drama. "My brain's telling me, 'I don't want to feel the way I feel, but I don't want to do heroin.' [continues 1092 words]
Nicholas P. Scutari Said Colorado Has Been Successful Allowing Recreation Use. Christie Has Said: No Way. The proposal would invite a veto from Gov. Christie over legalizing the drug's recreational use. Citing the success of Colorado's marijuana legalization program, a New Jersey lawmaker said he planned to introduce a bill within the month to legalize recreational marijuana for residents 21 and older. Sen. Nicholas P. Scutari (D., Linden), a primary sponsor of the state's four-year-old medical marijuana program and a prosecutor in Linden, said he believed this was the first time such a bill would be debated in the New Jersey Legislature. [continues 582 words]
Grandfather Protests for Medical Marijuana and His Family. Frigid temperatures, a looming snowstorm, and a set of jitters did not stop the grandfather of a 2-year-old medical-marijuana cardholder from showing up at Gov. Christie's swearing-in this week. Gene Gatens, a carpenter from Brick, Ocean County, was among a small crowd of 30 protesters to stake out a spot Tuesday near the War Memorial. He hoisted a homemade plywood sign that read, "Don't Force Families to Move for Medicine." [continues 711 words]
The advocates of marijuana legalization are nothing if not vociferous, as reactions to a recent Trentonian State Watch piece on the subject illustrated. But some of the advocates may be imbibing a bit too much of the product they champion, judging by their misinformed notions on the topic. The legalization champions took heated exception to the State Watch report that, according to state data, there are more than 12,000 "treatment admissions" (residential and outpatient) a year in New Jersey involving marijuana use. That's not as many admissions as for alcohol or heroin, but it's no marginal number to be dismissed with a scoff, either. [continues 361 words]
Advocates of marijuana legalization might call it "Reefer Madness." New Jersey drug-treatment officials call it simply a fact. There are more than 12,000 state "treatment admissions" annually for marijuana users - a rising number, according to the state's Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services. And this at the very time marijuana is winning wide public acceptance as a relatively harmless substance and even legalization. Colorado and Washington State voters have approved "recreational" sales of marijuana. And 19 states including New Jersey, plus Washington, D.C., have legalized medical use of it. [continues 410 words]
The Appellate Division of the Superior Court has ordered the Department of Health and Senior Services to produce a report within 45 days detailing the status of New Jersey's medical-marijuana program, especially regarding the dispensaries that haven't yet opened. Finally, the DHSS will have to show some accountability for the state's medical-cannabis program. At least, I hope so. There are many things still quite wrong with the program - here are just four of them. 1. Lack of dispensaries. [continues 435 words]
Northern Valley Regional High School parents will be able to see 14 documents the district had labeled privileged as well as the personal emails of board members regarding a proposed random drug testing policy. A Superior Court judge ruled last week that the district improperly withheld numerous documents and awarded the parents who had brought the lawsuit $7,500 in legal fees. The district parents had requested the documents under the state Open Public Records Act in June and then sued, claiming the district had not fully complied. [continues 566 words]
Inside New Jersey
