cannabisnews.com: Medical Marijuana Bill Clears Senate Committee





Medical Marijuana Bill Clears Senate Committee
Posted by CN Staff on December 15, 2008 at 11:37:01 PT
Breaking News
Source: Press of Atlantic City
Trenton, NJ -- New Jersey took a step towards becoming the next state to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana for medicinal use Monday, when the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens committee approved the Compassionate Use Medicinal Marijuana Act. The measure moves on to a full vote in the Senate.Elise Segal, who earlier testified in support, felt an emotional reaction after the vote.
“It really brings me to tears, not just for me as a someone suffering from multiple sclerosis, but as a registered nurse and for all the people that I’ve treated," she said.The bill would set up a registry program with the Department of Health and Senior Services, for people with debilitating medical conditions. These would include cancer, glaucoma, HIV or AIDS, or other diseases that cause wasting, chronic pain, severe nausea, seizures, severe and persistent muscle spasms.The department would issue an identity card and allow these people to possess up to six marijuana plants and an ounce of usable marijuana.But as a result, the person would not be subject to arrest or penalty for the medicinal use. For complete coverage, see Tuesday's editions of The Press of Atlantic City. Source: Press of Atlantic City, The (NJ)Published: Monday, December 15, 2008Copyright: 2008 South Jersey Publishing Co.Contact: letters pressofac.comWebsite: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Coalition for Medical Marijuanahttp://www.cmmnj.org/ New Jersey To Consider Legalizing Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread24369.shtml Medical Marijuana Pondered in Jerseyhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread24368.shtml
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Comment #43 posted by FoM on December 17, 2008 at 10:28:29 PT
Ekim
I watched Tommy Chong's movie and liked it a lot. They had Showtime open for 3 months and I got to see it.
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Comment #42 posted by ekim on December 17, 2008 at 10:05:42 PT
a thought on Tommy 
i hope someone will put a cash figure on how much it cost the taxpayers to sting Tommy for a bong.Just think of how much money was just lost in the latest investor scam--50 billion ? where were the regulators -- 
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Comment #41 posted by ekim on December 17, 2008 at 09:59:56 PT
Thanks FoM
last night Grass was on Sundance -
last week end Showtime had on Tommy Chongs film.
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Comment #40 posted by FoM on December 16, 2008 at 17:21:16 PT
Storm Crow
Thank you. That is an easy number to remember. One dried ounce per indoor plant grown. Sometimes I think the other side thinks one plant will produce a large amount. I believe most medical marijuana will be grown inside rather then one harvest a year which could overwhelm a sick person trying to do all the work.
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Comment #39 posted by Storm Crow on December 16, 2008 at 14:54:46 PT
If you are growing indoors....
That is correct! Usually between 1 and 2 ounces per plant. Outdoors, a pound per plant isn't that uncommon. 
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Comment #38 posted by FoM on December 16, 2008 at 12:32:19 PT
EJ and Storm Crow
Thank you. Would a close figure of one ounce per plant grown inside be a fair figure? I only mean the average not any extremes. It seems like it would be correct.
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Comment #37 posted by FoM on December 16, 2008 at 10:34:27 PT
Ekim
If I knew how to find out how Obama voted I would but so far this statement is all I've found so far. The governor of Illinois was a Republican at that time too.Excerpt: Obama voted for a hemp bill in Illinois in 2000http://www.myleftwing.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=14589
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Comment #36 posted by ekim on December 16, 2008 at 10:17:46 PT
 Q. did Obama ever support Illinois hemp bills
http://cannabisnews.com/news/8/thread8400.shtml Hemp Could be Cash Crop of Future 
Posted by FoM on January 21, 2001 at 16:10:32 PT
By Charlyn Fargo, Agribusiness Editor 
Source: State Journal-Register Don Briskin, University of Illinois professor of plant physiology, has a passion for doing research on hemp - not variations that produce marijuana, but hemp with legitimate and potentially lucrative agricultural uses. 
If hemp can get past a few remaining legislative hurdles in Illinois, Briskin believes it could have a future as a cash crop for farmers, useful in the manufacture of construction materials, fabric, paper and even composite plastic. 
 
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Comment #35 posted by FoM on December 16, 2008 at 10:04:57 PT
One More Comment
I'm hoping for a better answer on this question since Obama said he would stop the raids on mmj patients."13 states have compassionate use programs for medial Marijuana, yet the federal gov't continues to prosecute sick and dying people. Isn't it time for the federal gov't to step out of the way and let doctors and families decide what is appropriate?"http://change.gov/page/content/20081211_openforquestions
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Comment #34 posted by FoM on December 16, 2008 at 09:17:06 PT
Interesting Comments On Marijuana Question
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/16/obama-team-answers-first_n_151411.html
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Comment #33 posted by FoM on December 16, 2008 at 08:00:26 PT
Another Thought
If Obama legalized marijuana as soon as he is sworn in I believe the tobacco companies would become the producers. Back in the 70s that is what we thought would happen.
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Comment #32 posted by FoM on December 16, 2008 at 07:54:46 PT
runruff
You live in a very liberal state but many people in my state would be furious if he legalized marijuana right now.
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Comment #31 posted by runruff on December 16, 2008 at 07:43:53 PT
Obama knows!
He knows very well legalization is the right thing to do. It ain't exactly rocket surgery, ya know!Will he be the first black prez to sell out to special interest?
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Comment #30 posted by FoM on December 16, 2008 at 07:38:53 PT
Obama's Answer
I have found that what I believe doesn't mean the majority of people believe like I do. People that have never liked Obama will go orbital and be happy because they can blow off steam and pound their chest and be self righteous. If Obama said he would legalize marijuana right now some people would throw shoes at him too. 
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Comment #29 posted by FoM on December 16, 2008 at 07:26:10 PT
Hope
That doesn't surprise me. Not many people believe that society is ready to go that far. I'm glad the question was asked but Obama only said that he will stop the raids on patients in state's that have a medical marijuana law. We need to change the Federal Law and Barney Frank's Bill will be a good step in my opinion. Change comes slowly.
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Comment #28 posted by Hope on December 16, 2008 at 07:22:31 PT
Disappointed by the answer...
but not surprised.At least we got to ask, which is pretty extraordinary... and there will be more questions.This question isn't going away. We're not going away, until it's made right.
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Comment #27 posted by Hope on December 16, 2008 at 07:18:46 PT
Next time ...
We ask "Why" or "Explain".
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Comment #26 posted by Hope on December 16, 2008 at 07:13:24 PT
Changegov reported back on question.
  Q: "Will you consider legalizing marijuana so that the government can regulate it, tax it, put age limits on it, and create millions of new jobs and create a billion dollar industry right here in the U.S.?" S. Man, Denton  A: President-elect Obama is not in favor of the legalization of marijuana. 
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Comment #25 posted by Storm Crow on December 16, 2008 at 06:25:14 PT
Plants! 
I get about one ounce to two ounces per indoor plant, here in California- usually closer to one. Indoor growing is FAR more difficult than outdoor, but I can't risk it where I live. Outdoors, I could get a LOT more off of the same plants. A friend grew a few small plants and got about an ounce off of the lot. Her brother failed to get his past the seedling stage (never use "Miracle Grow"). This is one reason the numbers for growing plants is too low. I think the 300 joint idea is reasonably fair, but what about those who are trying to cure their cancer using Rick Simpson's method? That STARTS with a 5 gallon bucket filled with bud- that's WAAAAAY over one ounce! And that is for an only one to two month supply of the oil! Are we to continue to make criminals of just our MMJ cancer victims and the most debilitated of our ill who use more than the permitted amount? A straight cap on the number of plants is all that is truly needed. Cap it a 20 plants per patient and forget the "mature" vs "immature" or the number of ounces you have after a harvest! Even DUMB cops can count to 20! And they should "slam it" to the patients if they are selling their meds, but look the other way for "gifting" among patients. The truth is, they should stop all this stupid shilly-shallying around and just LEGALIZE IT! It would solve SO MANY problems! 
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Comment #24 posted by charmed quark on December 16, 2008 at 04:52:57 PT
good update
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1229405911219140.xml&coll=1The "Drug Free Kids" person testified that marijuana use by teens was higher in the medical cannabis states. I thought I had seen it was lower in those states.Nothing deglamorizes something to kids than seeing a bunch of old, sick people do it :-) 
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Comment #23 posted by E_Johnson on December 16, 2008 at 00:45:41 PT
Say what????
No way is a plant that is 110 cm that flowers for 62 days going to yield 400 grams. I doubt whether the whole plant wouldn't even weigh that much wet.A plant that size growing indoors, you'd be lucky to get 30 grams of dried bud.Where on Earth did you get those figures? They sound like complete science fiction to me.
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Comment #22 posted by CanadianGanjaman on December 15, 2008 at 23:32:55 PT
Herbal Research
Plant- Nebula ( Feminized )
Flowering time: 56-62 days Height: 110-130 cm Yield per m2 : 450-500 grams Yield per plant (outdoors): 500-600 grams. So One plant per 2 months generates at most 600 grams, so Keeping two of this plant at any given time will meet the 300 Gram/Month Quota
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Comment #21 posted by FoM on December 15, 2008 at 18:26:36 PT
I'm Wrong
I didn't figure it out right. This is hard to do.
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Comment #20 posted by FoM on December 15, 2008 at 17:42:37 PT
One More Thought
That doesn't figure in the plants that need to be grown to supply a 30 plant flowering garden every month. There is no magic wand in these figures I don't think.
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Comment #19 posted by FoM on December 15, 2008 at 17:39:15 PT
charmed quark 
Am I correct that 300 joints of cannabis, since they look as big as cigarettes, at 1 gram a piece would be 10 grams a day for a 30 day month? At 10 grams a day it would be 300 grams a month for easy math sake. That's about 3 quarters of a pound a month. It would take many indoor plants to produce 3 quarters of a pound a month I would think. If you figure one ounce per plant dried it would take a minimum of 30 plants being harvested every 30 days. 
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Comment #18 posted by charmed quark on December 15, 2008 at 17:20:55 PT
300 joints
I'm no expert about growing or anything else related to cannabis, but I think the federal joints are almost as big as cigarettes , probably at least a gram each. I imagine if you grew a really big plant outdoors and you knew what you were doing you could get this from one plant. Very low quality cannabis, of course, just like the government supplies.One of the anti-legislation people said you could get 30,000 joints from six plants. That must be something to see :-) I guess if you used the roots, stems, fan leaves, etc. and rolled REALLY tiny joints.Anyway, if you grow outdoors, you'd probably have to harvest it all at once and you'd have WAY more than an ounce. You'd have to throw it all away and just keep an ounce. And it would have to last until the next growing session.So you'd have to grow indoors, year round, staggering the plants so one matured at a time. You might get one ounce per plant if you were really good and had room to let them get kinda big. But beginning-to-end it seems to take about 16+ weeks ( unless you flower REALLY small). You'd have to harvest a new plant about every three weeks. You'd do this so that at any one time there would be a new clone, a 3 weeks old plant, etc. You'd have to have one place to keep the plants in vegetative growth while you'd have another place for flowering. It would be very complicated and you'd still only have an ounce every three weeks. Enough for small dose users like me, assuming the quality was high, but not nearly enough for many patients.
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Comment #17 posted by mykeyb420 on December 15, 2008 at 17:00:01 PT
pot club busted by rogue cop
 Patient advocates and The lowest Priority For
 Marijuana offenses oversight committee demand that Lt.
 Martin Halloran respect the law!
 
 The law of land - in our city of sanctuary.... is that
 marijuana is the lowest priority for SFPD. The Board of supervisors passed this law over three years ago. Yet in the last month, Lt.Halloran has been targeting medical cannabis providers.This Saturday his unlawful targeting hit the radar of compassionate community as he stormed the residence of Cathy and Steve Smith ..The compassionate community is aware of at least three other medical providers that have been targeted Cathy Smith is the representative of the medical cannabis providers of our city, on the oversight committee and is also seated on DA Harris advisory board on medical cannabis Deputy Chief Shinn on medical cannabis.
 
 The compassionate community is engaged in an open dialogue,
 that is productive and cutting edge with the aministrator's of the SFPD. The problem seems to with this particular officers targeting of the citys compassionate providers in direct conflict with the will of the voters and the law of the land ! Many committee member's will
 speak at press conference and join the patient advocates after the press conference to DA Harris office and demand that the evidence be returned , that the community's six
 year plus standing concern regarding Lt. Martin Halloran be
 officially investigated for misconduct and actions be immediately halted!
 
      Who? Axis Of Love SF, The Harvey Milk cannabis
 caucus, the lowest
 priority for marijuana offenses member's, Member's
 of the SFPD medical
 cannabis working group, Black and Brown Just Policy ORG,
 Supervisor David
 Campos [former police commissioner] ,Supervisor Chris Daly
 - [supervisors
 may be detained by pressing budget concerns but intend to
 be presentt]
 
     Where? 850 BRYANT front steps
 
     Date and Time? Monday December 15th 12pm 2008
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Comment #16 posted by FoM on December 15, 2008 at 16:32:49 PT
Just a Question
Irv Rosenfeld receives 300 pre rolled joints per month. Is it at all possibly to have someone like a Doctor that is knowledgeable about cannabis to observe the process and record it on video or pictures to help determine how many plants it takes to produce 300 pre rolled joints per month? 
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Comment #15 posted by The GCW on December 15, 2008 at 16:15:06 PT
MikeC,
I also don't want to complain...But it is rational for a person to purchase an ounce of plant material and want to acquire another ounce before running out of the ounce they aready have... which puts them in the position of having more than an ounce.-0-And of course the rabid law enforcement officer will think it ok to clamp the hand cuffs on tight as can be.
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Comment #14 posted by MikeC on December 15, 2008 at 16:02:35 PT
Ridiculous...
Where do they come up with these figures?You can have an ounce of "usable marijuana" and 6 plants? What happens when the 6 plants are harvested and you have much, much more than an ounce of "usable marijuana"?Well, I shouldn't complain about positive movement but it's silly to me.
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Comment #13 posted by The GCW on December 15, 2008 at 15:42:37 PT
charmed quark, 
1 ounce isn't enough.
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Comment #12 posted by FoM on December 15, 2008 at 15:40:57 PT
charmed quark
Thank you. This will be interesting watching it evolve.
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Comment #11 posted by charmed quark on December 15, 2008 at 15:32:40 PT
Alternative Medical Centers
An amendment was added to the bill to establish "alternative medical centers" which could grow and distribute cannabis to registered patients, as well as provide other services. They'd have to be license and monitored by the state. One senator said Walgreen could do one if they wanted but he expected most to be set up by medical cannabis groups. One senator asked why couldn't all these centers be run by drugstores. The sponsor tried to explain that he suspected Walgreen wouldn't be interested.Anyway, the amendment helps round out the bill. The original bill allowed 6 plants and one ounce of prepared cannabis. I felt one ounce was too little for many patients. You'd have to figure out how to carefully stagger the plants so you got enough, one ounce at a time. I think very few people would figure out how to grow in this manner.Now you can purchase more as needed.
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Comment #10 posted by Hope on December 15, 2008 at 15:08:05 PT
Wonderful!
This is good news. Thank you Charmed Quark for sharing your experience. Out of the committee and on it's way to success, I hope.
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on December 15, 2008 at 14:44:06 PT
charmed quark 
Thank you. I really appreciate you sharing your day with us. A very special day.I thought it was a Senator's Bill too.
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Comment #8 posted by charmed quark on December 15, 2008 at 14:37:05 PT
what a day
Paraphrasing a lot of what went on today.I felt sorry for the committee, as it was nearly 1PM when I testified. So I abbreviated mine, rather badly. I was still really mad from listening to all the nonsense from the collected opponent groups. They were toxic to listen to, basically saying we all had ulterior motives, or were, perhaps, stupid pawns. I was sitting behind the DARE guy and his neck turned bright red as he testified to the evils we were trying to perpetrate.So it's not good to try to speak on the fly when you are mad. Oh well.Surprisingly, some of their testimony upset the chairman, especially when one man said the bill was basically written by the head of MPP, which is run by a "convicted drug dealer". The chairman said the sponsor and writer of the bill was Senator Scutari, who was NOT a drug dealer, and if the man continued to defame him he would end the testimony.I was very moved by the committee members speeches they gave as they voted for the bill. I especially like the senator who spoke about the "lack of science" claimed by the opponents, saying in the last 8 years much science has been suppressed or distorted on many issues, including medical cannabis.Needless to say, we were very, very happy walking out of the committee room.I really enjoyed talking to the other people. I sat next to Elise and had a great talk with her.
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Comment #7 posted by The GCW on December 15, 2008 at 14:09:18 PT
MMJ4NJ,
I'm happy for New Jersey.Keep in mind though, there is some important work that must be done right away.New Jersey citizens must contact their Senate and let them know this issue is important to them.In some cases it means educating the Senate too.
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Comment #6 posted by MMJ4NJ on December 15, 2008 at 13:34:18 PT:
Yes
As a proud New Jersey resident, home of more Super Fund sites than any other state, it's great to see some sanity in our elected officials for a change.
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on December 15, 2008 at 12:31:58 PT
The Video
You're welcome. It was good. All we need is common sense that has been so lacking in our country for way too long.
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Comment #4 posted by The GCW on December 15, 2008 at 12:23:50 PT
?family rights groups?
"Over the objections of family rights groups and attorneys who warned the bill sends a conflicting message to kids,"I have a family and I do not identify with a so called farmily rights group speaking for Me, indicating cannabis use for sick citizens is bad from a family point of view.-And I teach the children in My family that it's wrong for government to prohibit, persecute and exterminate cannabis.-So My children are growing up to recognize that this so called family rights group is doing the work of the devil.-0-That was a good video.-0-Go, New Jersey! I would like to see more states decide to allow sick citizens to use cannabis, with out the issue having to go to election polls. -0-A sane argument to cage responsible sick citizens for using the relatively safe God-given plant cannabis doesn't exist. 
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Comment #3 posted by fight_4_freedom on December 15, 2008 at 11:59:38 PT
Great Video
Thanks for the links FoM!
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on December 15, 2008 at 11:52:04 PT
MMJ Wins Approval from Senate Committee
Video: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/12/medical_marijuana_wins_approva.html
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on December 15, 2008 at 11:38:37 PT
Heading in The Right Direction
Great news to read. 
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