The New South Jersey Site Will See 32 Patients Daily. 675 Have Signed Up. Sitting quietly in her parent's car, 2-year-old Vivian Wilson toyed with her iPad and grew weary during the two-hour drive to a medical marijuana dispensary close to Atlantic City - South Jersey's first. Opening day at the facility in Egg Harbor Township was Monday, and the state's youngest marijuana patient was among nine people with debilitating illnesses who had appointments to pick up some cannabis. [continues 770 words]
Edward Forchion, a medical-marijuana activist and patient, has begun serving a 270-day jail sentence in Burlington County for marijuana possession. Serving jail time in New Jersey for possession is unusual, so what did Forchion do to deserve the heel of the jackboot? He spoke out in support of medical marijuana and criticized his conviction - pointing out the hypocrisy of convicting a medical-marijuana patient for possession in a state with a medical-marijuana law. Civil disobedience has its price, and Forchion has always been willing to pay it. But jailing him is absurd in this changing legal climate. He should be freed. Terry H. Stern, Pennsauken, thstern@yahoo.com [end]
For States Forging Ahead, the Challenge Is to Keep Marijuana Away From Minors. The Debate Has Intensified As Momentum for Legalization Builds. WASHINGTON - When the Justice Department promised not to prosecute illegal marijuana sales planned to begin in Washington state and Colorado next year, its top lawyers demanded that the states reciprocate with a pledge to keep the drug away from minors. Officials in those pioneering pot states - where recreational use of marijuana was approved by voters in November - say they are ready to comply. But to legalization opponents, such promises are a pipe dream, destined to fail. They say it's more likely the United States will unleash a new industry that will try hard to attract young users and turn them into "addicts." [continues 637 words]
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, N.J - There are no signs out front, but people still show up at a drab beige warehouse outside Atlantic City to ask whether medical marijuana is available. Inside the cavernous building, 1,500 plants are growing beneath glowing fuchsia, yellow, and white LED lights inside a makeshift room. Soon, the sweet-smelling, leafy plants will be harvested. They now stand 18 inches tall, each in a three-gallon pot, after three months of nurturing. Growers in white lab coats fussed over them last week, culling out unwanted half-male half-female specimens while three New Jersey health inspectors watched. [continues 929 words]
South Jersey's first medical marijuana dispensary, which is expected to open Oct. 15, received an unusual approval for a $357,000 low-interest loan Thursday from the state Economic Development Authority so that it can expand. "I'm elated. ... This means the state recognizes us as a legitimate business," said Bill Thomas, CEO of Compassionate Care Foundation, which leases a former casino warehouse in Egg Harbor Township, near Atlantic City. He said the EDA had to consult with the Attorney General's Office for a legal opinion before approving the 4.65 percent loan. [continues 199 words]
Gov. Christie signed legislation Tuesday that changes New Jersey's medical marijuana law to improve sick children's access to the drug. Last month, Christie vetoed a bill designed to remove barriers preventing a 2-year-old Scotch Plains girl with a rare form of epilepsy and other children with ailments from obtaining cannabis. He promised to sign it if lawmakers would agree to his revisions. On Monday, the Assembly went along with the governor, following Senate action last month. "I'm pleased the Legislature accepted my recommendations so that suffering children can get the treatment they need," he said in a statement Tuesday. "I've said all along that protection of our children remains my utmost concern, and this new law will help sick kids access the program while also keeping in place appropriate safeguards." [continues 81 words]
The Assembly Approved Allowing Edible Forms for Children, Sent Measure to Christie. TRENTON - A 2-year old Scotch Plains girl and other sick children who qualify for medical marijuana moved closer to getting treatment when the New Jersey Assembly overwhelmingly approved changes in the regulations Monday. Vivian Wilson, a toddler who suffers from a rare and severe form of epilepsy, was issued a card to obtain the drug in February but faced a number of roadblocks, including a ban on edible cannabis. [continues 637 words]
The Justice Department recently made headlines when it announced a new federal policy on marijuana. It should come as welcome news to the majority of Americans who, according to an April Pew Research Center poll, believe marijuana should be made legal for adults. The policy memo issued to U.S. attorneys across the nation says that the federal government will not interfere with state laws allowing the medical or adult use of marijuana, as long as those states follow certain guidelines in their regulation of the product. This means that people in Colorado and Washington state, where voters passed such laws in November, will be able to start selling marijuana to people 21 and older next year. [continues 562 words]
While many New Jersey communities have refused to host medical marijuana dispensaries during the last three years, blue-collar Bellmawr seems more relaxed, even a bit surprised that others would object. "I don't care. If they run it properly, then it's just another business," said John Brown, who owns a heating and air-conditioning establishment directly behind the building in the Camden County borough that is being converted into a marijuana clinic and cultivation area. "If it helps people who are in pain and can't see, that's wonderful," he said. [continues 863 words]
A small borough that rejected plans for a marijuana clinic more than two years ago now will become the home of South Jersey's second dispensary. The Compassionate Sciences dispensary is expected to open early next year in Bellmawr in Camden County, four years after the Garden State legalized the drug for medical use. Bellmawr, a 3-square-mile town with 12,000 people, situated along a popular South Jersey Shore route, had been approached by another dispensary operator, Compassionate Care Foundation, in 2011. At that time, Mayor Frank Filipek said that he and the police chief and other officials had grave reservations and told the operator they would not support the proposal. [continues 296 words]
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration announced Thursday a limited pullback on federal enforcement of the prohibition on marijuana, saying it will not interfere with new state laws that permit recreational use of the drug. The Justice Department said that it will not seek to veto new state laws in Colorado and Washington that legalize the recreational use of marijuana, and that it will not bring federal prosecutions against dispensaries or businesses that sell small amounts of marijuana to adults. A department official stressed, however, that marijuana remains illegal under federal law, and that U.S. prosecutors will continue to aggressively enforce the law against those who sell marijuana to minors and to criminal gangs that are involved in drug trafficking. [continues 107 words]
BURLCO BUZZ - New Jersey Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, one of the prime sponsors of the state's three-year-old medical marijuana law, is puzzled by Gov. Christie's veto of a bill that would remove hurdles that keep seriously ill children from using cannabis. The veto was conditional, meaning Christie is demanding changes before he will sign the bill. The bill was passed after Brian and Meghan Wilson told lawmakers their 2-year-old girl needs cannabis because it has the potential to stop her frequent, life-threatening seizures. The Scotch Plains couple urged amendments to the law, which they said was flawed. [continues 202 words]
He Said He Would Back Edible Marijuana for Young Patients, but He Insisted on Two Changes. Gov. Christie told the Legislature on Friday that he would ease restrictions on minors using medical marijuana, but only if certain stipulations remained in place. The governor returned a medical-marijuana bill (S-2842) with recommended changes, saying he supported legalizing edible forms of marijuana and additional strains better suited to minors, but rejected a provision that would decrease the number of physician referrals required for a minor's entry into the program. [continues 677 words]
Parents of a 5-year-old Colorado girl who suffered from severe seizures say medical marijuana has saved their child's life. Footage of the child before and after she was given cannabis was shown Sunday in a documentary, Weed, aired on CNN and hosted by Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon. Paige and Matt Figi said in the CNN interview that their daughter, Charlotte, had 300 seizures a week before she was administered drops of cannabis under her tongue a year ago. She had been in a catatonic state, unable to eat, talk, or walk. Now, after regularly using cannabis, she has only one seizure every seven days, the parents said. Footage shows her talking, walking, laughing, and riding a bicycle and also a horse. [continues 158 words]
WASHINGTON - U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske is leaving office unceremoniously, forgotten long before he was ever known to most Americans. But for those leading the push to legalize marijuana, he'll be remembered as the tough-talking former police chief from Seattle who never yielded on the question of legalization, always warning of the health dangers linked to smoking pot. That stance put him at odds with the growing majority of Americans who now back legalization. As Kerlikowske, 63, heads for a possible job as the U.S. Customs and Border Protection commissioner, his exit prompts suggestions that America's drug czar has become irrelevant and whether President Obama should bother with a replacement. [continues 224 words]
The deadline for Gov. Christie to sign or veto a bill that would make it easier for children to use medical marijuana has been pushed back 11 days, to Aug. 19. Christie has said he has misgivings. Advocates say severely ill children can benefit from the drug. The ingredient that produces a high would be removed from the drug before it is given to children. The issue spiked last week when the parents of 2-year-old Vivian Wilson dropped off 2,100 petitions from supporters that ask the governor to sign the bill. The Scotch Plains girl has a severe type of epilepsy that triggers daily seizures that have not responded to barbiturates and other prescribed narcotics. [continues 162 words]
Parents Took 2,200 Letters to Christie Seeking Change to the Ban on Distributing Edible Medical Marijuana. Parents who have been fighting for changes in the state's medical marijuana law so they can provide the drug to their severely ill children took their campaign to Gov. Christie's office Thursday, armed with more than 2,100 letters from supporters. In New Jersey, sick children are allowed to use cannabis under the three-year-old law, but strict regulations and problems in implementation have made it impossible for any of them to obtain marijuana. [continues 508 words]
SAN DIEGO (AP) - A 25year-old college student reached a $4.1 million settlement with the federal government after he was abandoned in a windowless Drug Enforcement Administration cell for more than four days without food or water, his attorneys said Tuesday. Daniel Chong was taken into custody during a drug raid and placed in the cell in April 2012 by a San Diego police officer authorized to perform DEA work. The officer told Chong he would not be charged and said, "'Hang tight, we'll come get you in a minute,' " his lawyer Eugene Iredale said. [continues 84 words]
I was shocked to learn that children with serious medical conditions can use medical marijuana legally in New Jersey. However, it makes no sense if there are regulations that make it difficult for parents to obtain the treatment, nor that the sole dispensary in the state has been forbidden from offering the edible form of cannabis to children ("Christie pressed to OK medical pot for children," July 16). The benefits of trying marijuana, a natural drug that does not get the child high and has worked on children in Colorado and California, far outweigh the risks. It was inspiring that Gov. Christie received more than 1,500 faxes supporting a proposal to ease access to medical marijuana for children. Steven Pfeifer, Tabernacle [end]
A 24-Year Philadelphia Study Produces Unexpected Results. A Quarter-Century Philadelphia Study of Cocaine Exposure in the Womb and Its Effects Produces an Unexpected but Clear Result. Jaimee Drakewood hurried in from the rain, eager to get to her final appointment at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Ever since her birth 23 years ago, a team of researchers has been tracking every aspect of her development - gauging her progress as an infant, measuring her IQ as a prechooler, even peering into her adolescent brain using an MRI machine. [continues 1919 words]
