cannabisnews.com: Tighter Medical-Marijuana Bill Clears Panel

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  Tighter Medical-Marijuana Bill Clears Panel

Posted by CN Staff on June 05, 2009 at 05:16:52 PT
By Adrienne Lu, Inquirer Trenton Bureau 
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer 

New Jersey -- A bill to allow the medicinal use of marijuana for seriously ill patients has been tightened to address concerns the drug could become too widely available.An amended version of the bill that was approved by the Senate in February cleared the Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee yesterday by a vote of 8-1, with two abstentions. Next, Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts Jr. (D., Camden) will determine whether to post the bill for a floor vote in the Assembly.
If the amended bill clears the Assembly, it would return to the Senate for a second vote because of the changes.New Jersey could become the 14th state to allow medical marijuana. Gov. Corzine has said he would sign the bill if it reaches his desk.The legislation would authorize the state Department of Health and Senior Services to issue identification cards to qualifying patients who have been diagnosed with a "debilitating medical condition."Under the amendments, patients and caregivers would not be allowed to grow marijuana at home, but may instead obtain marijuana from authorized nonprofit alternative treatment centers.The amended bill was not available to the public yesterday, but according to legislative staff, under the changes:Patients would be permitted to obtain marijuana from the treatment centers via courier or delivery.Only the physician who is responsible for the ongoing treatment of the condition that calls for medical marijuana could prescribe it.The definitions of conditions for which marijuana can be prescribed have been tightened.New limits have been set on the amount of medical marijuana a patient could obtain in one month.Supporters of medical marijuana have been working to legalize its use for years in New Jersey. This is the furthest such legislation has advanced in the state.Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D., Mercer), one of the sponsors of the bill, said New Jersey should not make criminals out of the state's very sick and terminally ill residents."It does not make sense for many of New Jersey's residents to suffer when there is a viable way to ease their pain," Gusciora said. "Medical marijuana can alleviate a lot of suffering, and there is no evidence that legalizing it for medical use increases overall drug use."Roseanne Scotti, director of Drug Policy Alliance New Jersey, called the bill's passage in the Assembly committee a victory.But she was also concerned that the amendments might have tightened controls so much as to restrict access to patients who could benefit. She said she had not seen the amendments as of early yesterday afternoon."We are very supportive of having whatever safeguards in place that need to be in place, but our concern is that we don't want the bill so restricted that people can't get access," Scotti said. She said marijuana should be subject to similar restrictions as other legally prescribed medications, such as morphine or OxyContin, but no more.Scotti said four other states require patients to obtain their medical marijuana from approved dispensaries or co-ops: California, Oregon, New Mexico, and Rhode Island.Yesterday's hearing before the Assembly health committee drew a number of patients and family members in favor of the bill, with some shedding tears during their testimony.Opponents, including the state Fraternal Order of Police and the state police chiefs' association, say legalizing medical marijuana could lead to more widespread illegal use of the drug.John Tomicki, executive director of the League of American Families, objected to the quick passage of the bill, saying it was rushed through the committee without committee members or the public being able to read the changes.He also said the decision of whether to legalize medical marijuana should be left to the Food and Drug Administration, not the state legislature."The California experience shows clearly that there will be an increase in crime and an increase particularly in the areas in which there are the dispensaries, and more and more municipalities in California are passing local laws prohibiting dispensing facilities in their community," Tomicki said.Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)Author: Adrienne Lu, Inquirer Trenton BureauPublished: June 5, 2009Copyright: 2009 Philadelphia Newspapers IncURL: http://drugsense.org/url/ox0dKE7CContact: Inquirer.Letters phillynews.comWebsite: http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/Related Articles:Assembly Committee Passes Bill To Allow MMJhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread24852.shtmlMMJ Bill To Appear Before NJ Committeehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread24844.shtml

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Comment #19 posted by FoM on June 06, 2009 at 16:24:53 PT
museman
I believe you. What is interesting when the State Park was developed many controls were built in to protect this beautiful place. It was developed during the time when the earth was important back in the 60s and 70s. Today we saw people biking and riding ponies on the trails and cranes and fish and fresh air. We don't need more oil at the expense of this wonderful retreat. People are nice no matter if they are in a little bass boat or a big cabin cruiser. This is where we put the boat in today. We might be a poor county but we have a beautiful place to visit for free and we don't pay any taxes to support it since it is a state park. We hit a hard wave caused by a big cabin cruiser while in the ski zone and I smashed my elbow really hard into the metal on the windshield. Other then that and getting stuck in the mud for a minute or two we had a great day. LOL! http://www.saltforkmarinas.com/
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Comment #18 posted by museman on June 06, 2009 at 10:32:50 PT
FoM
Don't let 'em do it!! They'll trash your park, create sumps to store their many thousands of gallons of hydraulic fluids that get used in the drilling process, and if no one is watching they'll dump that crap in the watershed. The skys will be filled with diesel fumes, and you'll swear Mordor has come to your neck of the woods.I know, I watched it happen in the pristine forest along the Smith River (where they tried to dump their crap-before we stopped them by throwing their pump into the sump.)The republicans aren't, unfortunately, going to read the 'writing on the wall' until it falls on them. Its up to the people to protect their own interest at this point. I hope there is some group in your area throwing some 'legal' monkey wrenches into that, if they can be stopped for a year or two, it will be too late for them, I believe.What is going in in the National Parks- the police state extended, through the BLM, is friggin horrible. A lot of federal 'ordinance' has already been put into place in the national parks, and nobody is aware until they go to their favorite campground to find fees, or majorly increased fees, curfews enforced by armed BLM, whose presence is more notable than the cops, sometimes, and a slew of new 'rules' that the BLM can ticket you for should they choose.LEGALIZE FREEDOM
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Comment #17 posted by FoM on June 06, 2009 at 06:39:42 PT
museman
I just read that our Republican majority senate voted to allow drilling at our state park since we are sitting on a very large reserve of natural gas and oil. Hopefully it won't happen. They should try to develop wind and solar instead. They want to be able to have more access to private land owners but there are so many clauses and loopholes in our area it is making it impossible for them to push this issue luckily. This is one time I like loopholes and clauses.
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Comment #16 posted by FoM on June 06, 2009 at 05:49:25 PT
museman
My worries when living back east were a fear of being stuck and having no way to get out. I don't do well in a cramped situation. Cement was more abundant then trees and grass. This earth is a beautiful place but it has been cluttered with too much being built in small areas. We need God's Green Earth more then we need man made cities. Today we are going out on the lake again since the weather is beautiful after having a very rainy week. Living in the country means the world to me. The Pow Wow is today and tomorrow but it is only from noon until 4 so we might not make it. I wish they held a night event and we will check to see if they do but it isn't on a schedule. The temperature high will be about 80 which will be so pleasant. I hope you have a nice day.
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Comment #15 posted by museman on June 05, 2009 at 21:32:40 PT
FoM
The first time I escaped the city -Bakersfield California- I literaly had to just start walking one day.I started with no idea where, just the clothes I was wearing, and the 'low potency' (lol) influence of weeks of inhaling Thai Stick.I walked half the day, and at the end of the day I was hundreds of miles away. Once I realized it was THAT SIMPLE, I was free.Sometimes the thought that all those gazillions of people stacked up in those cities, actually like being in that filth and pollution is just scary.And I do sympathize, if one can no longer just get up and walk out. But if they got two working feet, they got no excuses.
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Comment #14 posted by FoM on June 05, 2009 at 15:47:06 PT
Sam 
I understand your concern. I have the same concern. It's like there's something shadowy being contemplated and I'm not a conspiracy theorist.
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Comment #13 posted by runruff on June 05, 2009 at 15:32:15 PT
freedom, liberty, and personal sovereignty
Your heart is free have the courage to follow it!-Braveheart.
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Comment #12 posted by Sam Adams on June 05, 2009 at 15:16:52 PT
whose side are you on?
Scotti said four other states require patients to obtain their medical marijuana from approved dispensaries or co-ops: California, Oregon, New Mexico, and Rhode Island.Wow, very sorry to see this coming from a DPA professional.She's totally wrong, there isn't a single state in the USA that requires patients to get medicine from a dispensary.sometimes the bumbling of MPP and DPA is shockingly bad. Sorry, it has to be said. It now seems that both are working to pass laws that do not allow patient cultivation. I cannot fathom this logic.
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Comment #11 posted by Sam Adams on June 05, 2009 at 15:14:16 PT
no go
Politicians don't want to "kill" medical marijuana, they know it has 80% approval, they'd rather "compromise" it to death.Any medical marijuana bill that does not allow patient cultivation is near USELESS. Once patient cultivation is knocked out there are myriad ways the state govt. can stop medical MJ from happening. That is what we learned in the 80s and 90s.Which is why it's VERY disturbing to see advocates accept this "compromise" in PA, and even more disturbing that MPP paid a fortune to put a referendum on the ballot in Arizona that does not allow patient cultivation. They just wasted their money.
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Comment #10 posted by Had Enough on June 05, 2009 at 11:05:18 PT

People United For Medical Marijuana - Florida 
People United For Medical Marijuana - Orlando June 6 Meetup Saturday June 6, 2009 Location: Herndon Branch Library 4324 E Colonial Dr. Orlando, FL 32803 407-835-7323 Time: 1:15 pmHow to find us: "The meeting room is on the right side of the library" Who is organizing? Kim Russellhttp://www.meetup.com/People-United-For-Medical-Marijuana-Orlando/calendar/10318810/ ************ PUFMM - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=127343055695 PUFMM - http://www.pufmm.org/ ************FoM. I did it again…zap comment #9

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Comment #8 posted by FoM on June 05, 2009 at 10:44:09 PT

museman
We spent our formative years in eastern PA near Philly. When my husband and I were given the opportunity to move to Ohio and a chance to live far away from the chaos as hard as it was to leave our friends and family we left. We knew we would have been suffocated if we had stayed there. Living in rural Ohio you don't get touched by the bad things that occur in congested areas and the east coast is congested. We enjoyed watching a groundhog graze on the plush grass from our kitchen window again today. Living in the country helps me connect with values that I have long held dear. Man didn't build what I find good and inspiring.
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Comment #7 posted by HempWorld on June 05, 2009 at 10:41:24 PT

From SAMHSA yesterday's report
2.3 Perceptions of Risk of Marijuana Use
An individual's perception of the risks of substance use has been shown to be inversely related to whether he or she actually uses the substance (e.g., Bachman, Johnston, & O'Malley, 1998). At the State level, 9 of the 10 States that ranked in the lowest fifth of perceived great risk of using marijuana once a month were also among the States that ranked in the highest fifth for past month use of marijuana in 2006-2007 for persons aged 12 or older (Figures 2.9 and 2.13). Slightly over one quarter (26.2 percent) of all persons aged 12 or older in New Hampshire reported that using marijuana occasionally (once a month) was a great risk (Table B.4). However, in Mississippi slightly more than half (51.4 percent) of all persons aged 12 or older indicated that occasional use of marijuana was a great risk. Although Mississippi (4.6 percent) did not have the lowest rate for past month marijuana use among persons aged 12 or older, it ranked in the lowest fifth for that measure (Table B.3 and Figure 2.9). The national percentage of persons aged 12 or older perceiving a great risk of using marijuana once a month remained unchanged between 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 (both at 38.9 percent) (Table C.4). Seven States showed a significant change in the perceived risk of using marijuana once a month among persons 12 or older: Arkansas, Colorado, and South Dakota showed decreases, whereas Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska, and Wisconsin had increases. 
Illicit Drug Use, Awwwww ...
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Comment #6 posted by HempWorld on June 05, 2009 at 10:28:32 PT

museman
You really made my day!
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Comment #5 posted by museman on June 05, 2009 at 10:03:01 PT

freedom, liberty, and personal sovereignty
Are missing from the mix."Freedom isn't free, freedom isn't free,you gotta pay the price, you gotta sacrifice,for your liberty."- written for "Up With People" by a black prisoner at Tehachapi State Prison -who was in for 6 years for one joint.Backed up against the wall of false authority, false reasoning, and pretentious power (made very real by 2-legged dogs with guns), and after being broken, humiliated, and put in a box, prisoners often look to any appearance of kindness and humanity as something worthy of worship and adoration - the reasoning behind the 'good cop, bad cop' scenario.Who gives these pretenders the authority to rule our lives?The god in your wallet that is the highest prority in your life.Who says that any doctor knows more about my life, being, and physical health, than I? Sometimes, skill and knowlege that is needed but not in hand, must be found and utilized, but to set up some kind of constant 'office' of 'authority' as the only source of that is not only foolish, but as history is proving, quite criminal in its far reaching effect.And what about my over -all Ya ('God') given right and power of free will and choice? Is there really any one out there qualified to make my choices for me? Not since my mom kicked me out and said I was 'free, white, and 21.'And yet we have all these fake 'representatives' who by much revealed facts and revelation, have shown the world , that their real concerns are their own power, false authority (that so many just hand over like it belongs to them) and lifestyle. Yet we still talk about our 'jobs' as if that were the end-all, be-all, of existence.Corporations like Monsanto are quietly attempting to create another dark, evil war like the WOD, that is a WOOF, 'War On Organic Food.' The Nephalim (Rich Ruling Dynasties -now corporate) who invented the fake value system known as 'economics' have just done a major coup on 'new money' and garnered all the fake resource back into their own control, and orchestrated the current 'economic crisis' with the same arrogant assumptions that they can get away with anything because they have so many of us willing to be their labor slaves, and those that don't go along with their program, those who excersize their liberties and free will, are labeled 'criminal' and put in boxes wherever possible.In some of the more spiritually backward states -particularly those who are under the medieval control of the christian church, they have been thoroughly indoctrinated into believing in the false power and authority of 'those appointed over us.' Like many Americans believe that everything on the evening news is 'gospel.' Its all part of the same integrated systems of belief, power, authority, and control.If I hadn't seen the Sun rising on a New Day, if I hadn't experienced the fledgling newborn of our New Collective Consciousness, I would be advocating revolution.If I didn't know that the days and hours of these putrid pretenders was nearly at their final end, I would be armed and stocked with supplies, and brainstorming acts of sabotage to hasten the process. If I didn't know that the Spiritual 'Cavalry' was just over the ridge, waiting for the signal, I would despair of any sanity ever coming back to reality in my lifetime, without extreme, swift, action.But its true, no matter how real and vital the false Status Quo appears to be, they are all 'Dead Men Walking' and all those who continue to willingly capitulate and compromise with their falseness, will most likely join them on the Green Mile.I am so glad I don't live on the east coast, its bad enough to have to deal with a bunch of inbred redneck halfwits, without having to deal with the wholesale corruption of american cities like New Jersey, New York, etc. etc.So stop taking all those damn wooden nickels being offered by the thieves who are attempting to control Creation, don't settle for their new WOD called 'regulation and control' take your god-given liberty,freedom, and personal sovereignty and run for it. If you wait for the thieves to give it back, you'll be waiting in your grave.FREE CANNABIS FOREVER -CANNABIS IS MEDICINE, FOOD, RESOURCE, and an EARTH HEALER -those who want to stifle it are enemies of God, Man, and the Earth, so lets stop pretending that its 'equal to anything' its beyond such toxic and poisonous comparisons to alcohol and other destructive substances favored by the undead, it is the greatest, most useful and easily available (sans prohibition)herb in existence.
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Comment #4 posted by George Servantes on June 05, 2009 at 08:04:18 PT

These greedy corrupted politicians
They are treating it like it's more harmful then nuclear medicine.This is madness or is it corruption?I don't want to think they are mad cause they are putting so many restrictions when it's safer then alcohol and tobacco. Is this madness or something else is going on?
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Comment #3 posted by Cheebs1 on June 05, 2009 at 07:59:48 PT:

Doesn't Matter
It doesn't matter that there really is scientific evidence to show that not only is cannabis not harmful but extremely beneficial to man. The research is in and still doesn't matter. I think the main problem with the US is our definition of medicine. It cannot contain any natural extracts or substances. For a substance to be called medicine in America it can only be chemically derived and consist of patentable synthesized ingredients. Look at this article and it's obvious that once the science is done the federal government doesn't want to hear about it unless it "proves" that cannabis is detrimental to one's health. After 30 years of research the lead scientist on whether cannabis harms lungs has changed his opinion on the legalization of cannabis and is now for it. http://www.cannabisculture.com/v2/content/top-anti-drug-researcher-changes-his-mind-says-legalize-marijuanaPeace, Love, and Pot
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Comment #2 posted by HempWorld on June 05, 2009 at 07:34:28 PT

address concerns the drug could become too widely
available.Such as: Since marijuana was made illegal 70 years ago it became very popular and has been available at every street corner in every town ever since.Where have you guys been?
On a mission from God!
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Comment #1 posted by Storm Crow on June 05, 2009 at 06:30:58 PT

PRESCRIBE???
Are they going to repeat the Arizona "mistake"- and eliminate the program that way? No doctor can PRESCRIBE cannabis since it is schedule 1! Looks to me that they are going to "tighten" the rules in such a way that no one can get cannabis. How much you want to bet that the amount you are allowed has gone down to a paltry and absolutely inadequate amount? That the conditions are down to where you must be one step from death to qualify? That hundreds of people must continue to suffer because this wrong-headed prohibition? The politicians are so worried over the message that they MIGHT be sending to kids (although juvenile use goes DOWN when MMJ is allowed) and the right wing conservatives (a rapidly dying group), that they are not listening to OUR message! LEGALIZE CANNABIS! 
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