Friday, October 26, 2012

ARTICLE: Montclair Pot Dispensary: New Jersey's First Marijuana Storefront Lands Pot License


MONTCLAIR, N.J. -- Across New Jersey, most communities approached about hosting one of the state's first legal medical marijuana dispensaries in out-of-the-way industrial zones have just said no, after outpourings of public opposition.
Montclair is a different story.
The cosmopolitan suburb a half-hour train ride from Manhattan has not only allowed Greenleaf Compassion Center – which last week received the state Health Department's first license to begin providing pot to patients – but also let the business set up in the middle of the town's main drag, and with no fuss.
For plenty of people in the way left-of-center town, the situation is a source of both pride and nonchalance.
"Why are the other communities so closed-minded as to not accept something like that?" said Peter Ryby, owner of Montclair Book Store, around the corner and down the block from the not-yet-opened alternative treatment center.
The town of 38,000 is sometimes called "the Upper West Side of New Jersey," referring to the famously upscale and liberal part of Manhattan, but it's also reminiscent of well-heeled bohemian spots such as Boulder, Colo., and Berkeley, Calif. There's an art museum, an international film festival, a Whole Foods, Thai restaurants, racks for commuters' bikes, and the headquarters of Garden State Equality, New Jersey's largest gay-rights group.
The population – 62 percent white, 27 percent black – is racially integrated and largely well-to-do. The median household income is $140,000.
And the idea of tolerance is part of the town's identity. In a scene in "Mad Men," a TV drama set in the 1960s, characters who went to Montclair for a party were stunned to see black and white revelers together – and marijuana being passed around.
Medical marijuana is a dicey business. In the eyes of the federal government, the medicine is still an illegal drug.
Some patients say marijuana can ease symptoms associated with conditions ranging from multiple sclerosis to migraines. It has been used to treat pain, nausea and lack of appetite in cancer and AIDS patients.
Seventeen states and Washington, D.C., have flouted federal law and passed some sort of statute to allow patients access to the drug.
Each state has its own model for how the cannabis can be distributed. Some, like New Jersey – where advocates lament and some officials brag that the laws are the nation's strictest – are still in a startup phase.
So far, nine states – Arizona, California, Colorado, Maine, Michigan, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington – have dispensaries operating. Some states are still setting up distribution systems, and some use home-grown marijuana or other setups that do not include dispensaries.
Chris Goldstein, a spokesman for both the Philadelphia chapter of the pro-pot group NORML and the Coalition for Medical Marijuana of New Jersey, has visited dispensaries all over the country. He said most of the storefront operations look more like the one ready to open in Montclair than those proposed in industrial districts of New Jersey.
"The dispensaries are in the higher-end neighborhoods of California towns. There are people who are wealthy and who are poor who need to access medical marijuana," he said. "In New Jersey, it's wherever the dispensary can get their location."
New Jersey is not allowing registered patients to grow their own, and is limiting the potency, amount and variety of pot patients can buy. There's a relatively short list of conditions that qualify patients for the drug, and unlike some more lenient states, chronic pain and anxiety aren't on it.
Only New Jersey residents are eligible. New York, easily reachable by rail, does not allow medical marijuana, though lawmakers have proposed doing so.
Last year, the New Jersey Department of Health selected six nonprofit groups to pursue plans to grow and sell cannabis. The other five have struggled to find towns that will accept them, and none yet has permission to start growing marijuana, let alone sell it.
Groups are planning sites in Egg Harbor Township and Woodbridge. The other three groups have not announced their latest location plans.
Only Greenleaf has had a direct path. In its application, the group said it would meet patients in Montclair and grow its plants in another, undisclosed town. The group won't say where, citing security.
A year ago, Janice Talley, Montclair's director of planning and community development, found that the site on Bloomfield Avenue – next door to an abortion clinic and three buildings down from an adult video store that has pipes and vaporizers displayed for sale – would be a permissible for the new business under zoning laws.
Talley said she fielded complaints from some national anti-marijuana groups. "Nobody from the town called me and complained why we had that facility," she said. "It wasn't a huge issue here."
Behind the counter at Health Love and Soul Juice Bar and Grill a couple doors down from Greenleaf, Jarisi Anderson, said he's all for the new establishment. "It's a beautiful thing," he said.
His co-worker, Queen Townsend, fears the place could be a problem, but she believes she's in the minority. "The people I've met in Montclair – I don't want to stereotype – a lot of people here smoke weed," she said. "They don't have a problem with that."
The guys smoking tobacco down the street at Fume, a cigar shop, said they aren't troubled by legalizing marijuana – medicinal or not. "It's a waste to lock somebody up for a nickel bag or a dime bag," said shop owner Ralph Alberto.
But the dispensary could give the non-Montclair residents who go there to protest another cause.
Last week, Bernadette Grant stood across the street from the dispensary's neighboring abortion clinic with rosary beads in one hand and anti-abortion pamphlets in the other. She said she considers medical marijuana in the same category as abortion.
"This is not pro-life ," she said. "This is pro-death."
___

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

BLOG: A response from a local elected official, re: Delaware Medical Marijuana Compassion Care Centers

FROM ELECTED OFFICIAL

We do plan to request a meeting with the Governor, once the election is over in two weeks. Our hope is that there will be a more comfort level to allow us to move forward with the legislation.


MY RESPONSE:

Thanks, I appreciate the update regarding Delaware Compassion Care Centers.

We knew from the beginning that there would be challenges, and even setbacks, we knew that it might be "uncomfortable" but for the Governor to stop altogether and our representatives to say nothing to us? To hear that we are going to wait till after the election is just ridiculous. We are a year and half behind schedule already.

My next letter will be to the near 2300 Delaware patients, friends, families, doctors and nurses who prefer, use, consume & recommend cannabis that we must wait till after election to request a " comfortable " meeting. No one is going to be happy. This should have been on the calendar every week until Delaware Patients have safe access to medical cannabis.

It's important to us, our friends are still in pain, our families are still fighting crippling diseases as our caregivers buy cannabis illegally so that their loved ones have quality of life. Our elected officials force us to be terminally ill criminals so they can be "comfortable". When elected official become comfortable.. It's certainly time for an election and we the voters will elect driven, fearless, educated & motivated... Not comfortable.

Respectfully,


Diane L. Jump
notwith0utafight@aol.com
CANCERVIXXEN
FocusOnHope

Monday, October 22, 2012

BLOG: Letter to Governor Markell Re: Delaware Compassionate Care Centers

Governor Markell,

You must rethink your decision and allow the processes of the three compassion care centers to begin. You do remember, we were there, the sick, the terminally ill, the Delaware patients who told our stories of how cannabis helps us, heals us and allows us quality of life. The law passed, Delaware is a medical marijuana state and we need our three compassion care centers.

Sir, times are changing and Delaware needs to be part of that change. Over 80% of citizens favor medical cannabis and know someone who prefers it over the harmful prescribed narcotics and alcohol. We all know the war in drugs is a dismal failure and many promising futures have been ruined for simple personal medical use. We will no longer sit idly by to watch this antiquated law that big government, big pharma, dirty money hides behind. You are our governor and we trust you to listen to the people. Over 60% think cannabis should be decriminalized, soon that will change and we will voting legalization. It's inevitable, there is nothing you can do to stop it, we should be focusing on the jobs that medical cannabis can and will bring to Delaware!

Delaware citizens, small business owners, voters, doctors & scientist were in a DC court last week battling for the schedule one classification to be changed and offering scientific proof that cannabis has absolute medical value.

I will vaporize and ingest it for my cancer / chemo / radiation side effects. I have learned that science and nature works well together, I have severely reduced my prescribed narcotics and medications. I talk to my doctors and share my healthy diet, exercise, minimum narcotics and marijuana consumption. I take complete responsibility for myself and my cancer and i work with medical professionals, they know that my goal is to be cancer free. I still work part time between chemo and radiation, I am a Delaware minority small business owner and I am a social media blogger advocating for Delaware medical marijuana.

Governor Markell, don't be that governor who does nothing. NOW is the time to step out of that comfort zone and go to battle for us. Marijuana is here, it will never go away, it is not a gateway drug, it is natures gift to those of us who suffer with debilitating diseases. Responsible parents can protect their children from it like prescribed medications, alcohol, cigarettes. Cannabis is a natural plant with proven scientific medical benefits without the harmful side effects of the dangerous yet legal opiates, alcohol, cigarettes.

I will always be Delaware's advocate for medical marijuana, you will hear from me everyday through some sort of social media. Come see me, talk to me, let me share with you why I choose marijuana over opiates. I'm not a stoner and want to get high, I am a terminally ill cancer patient who is vaporizing and ingesting herself to be healthy and cancer free.

I have so many of those standard template responses from your office, it would be nice to hear from you.

Very truly yours,

Diane L. Jump
notwith0utafight@aol.com
CANCERVIXXEN

Thursday, October 18, 2012

ARTICLE: NJ Medical Marijuana Distributor gets 1st permit

New Jersey issued its first permit to a medical marijuana distributor, and expects it to begin dispensing by year end, Health Commissioner Mary O'Dowd said.
Montclair's nonprofit Greenleaf Compassion Center has satisfied New Jersey's permitting law, O'Dowd told reporters on a conference call today. About 320 patients, with such "debilitating medical conditions" as multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, inflammatory bowel disease, glaucoma, HIV or AIDS and terminal cancer, have been registered to get the drug or are in the process, O'Dowd said. Greenleaf will grow its own plants in an undisclosed location.
The possession and distribution of marijuana is illegal under U.S. and state law. In October 2009, President Barack Obama's administration told federal prosecutors not to file charges against legitimate dispensaries and their patrons.
MORE: Editorial: Why not pot for medical use in NY?
VIDEO: Learning the marijuana trade | Seniors using medical marijuana | Should federal prosecutors ease up on states where medical marijuana is legal?
Seventeen states and Washington, D.C., have approved medical marijuana laws, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, a bipartisan research group based in Denver.
New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie had delayed implementation of the marijuana law signed by his predecessor, Democrat Jon Corzine. Christie, 50, a former federal prosecutor who took office in January 2010, said he supported compassionate use of the drug, though he had questions about criminal liability for distributors and users. The U.S. Justice Department last year sent a memo to several states reiterating Obama's position and Christie said New Jersey would start licensing distributors.
Patients who smoke the plant's dried leaves or inhale it via nebulizer may find relief from pain, nausea and vomiting. About 175 physicians have registered with the state to authorize the drug's use.
The dispensaries will serve only New Jersey residents who are certified by registered doctors.

Monday, October 15, 2012

ARTICLE: Medical marijuana moving forward in N.J., first center permitted for dispensing


By Matthew Arco | October 15th, 2012 - 3:09p

TRENTON – New Jersey residents with medical marijuana cards could have their prescriptions filled by the end of the year, the commissioner of the Department of Health announced Monday.

Commissioner Mary O’Dowd said the state issued a first of its kind permit that will allow a Montclair-area center to begin to dispense medicinal marijuana. The center, Greenleaf Compassion Center, is the first center in the state permitted to operate as an Alternative Treatment Center.

“The issuance of this permit marks a significant step forward,” O’Dowd said during a telephone news conference Monday afternoon.

O’Dowd also announced that medicinal marijuana patients will begin to receive their medical marijuana cards in the mail as soon as this week.

There are approximately 320 patients in the state who have either registered with the program or are in the process of completing that registration, she said.

The state’s medical marijuana program has had trouble getting off the ground. Although Gov. Chris Christie gave the program his OK last year, some proposed centers have had trouble getting started as local zoning and planning boards have opposed them.

Greenleaf was the first center in the state permitted for growing medical marijuana. The permit was issued in April.

O’Dowd said she didn’t know exactly when Greenleaf plans to open their doors, saying now that the center is properly permitted it’s just a matter of getting “all their ducks in a row” administratively before they will begin dispensing medical marijuana.

“I would expect that they’re working on that now,” she said, adding that she expects it to be before the end of the year.

There are five other alternative treatment centers in various stages of the permit process.

O’Dowd said she expects 190 medical marijuana cards to be sent out in the coming days.


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