[420 Girl]

Patients in New Jersey, which recently passed medical marijuana legislation but whose health officials may not have regulations in place by the January 1, 2011 deadline, are getting frustrated. With only five months to get a system in place to regulate clinics, dispensaries, etc., no public plans have been given to designate who will grow the marijuana and where it will be sold.

Quote:
Slow Going

Legislation approving at least six non-profit alternative treatment centers to dispense medical marijuana in New Jersey was approved in January. The implementation date has been delayed until January 2011. Before the law goes into effect, the State Department of Health and Senior Services must:

* Set up regulations that include designating a marijuana supplier.

* Authorize places to dispense marijuana.

* Create a system for patient registry.

* Once the plan is crafted, it will be subject to public input before it’s finalized.


John Ammirati, diagnosed with bone cancer six years ago, says that marijuana is the only thing that stimulates his appetite consistently. He’s lost over fifty pounds since his diagnosis and says everyday is a battle to force himself to eat. He can’t afford to buy it on the streets because he can’t work, so medical marijuana (which would be paid for under state and local programs) is his only hope.

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John Ammirati of Lyndhurst, was diagnosed with bone cancer six years ago and has lost 50 pounds. He says the best thing to stimulate his appetite and suppress his pain is marijuana.
New Jersey’s Department of Health and Senior Services hasn’t set up any regulations for growing or dispensing marijuana, however. After delays (the law was to go into effect in October, now delayed to January), the agency has yet to create even a patient registry to begin lining patients up for the program.

The director of communications for the DHSS says that no timeline has been established for regulations of medical marijuana, but says the agency is “working diligently” on the matter. New Jersey’s law requires that six non-profit alternative treatment centers be designated (or created) to dispense cannabis, but gives no specifics on where it will be grown. Proposals have put Rutgers University as the likely grow site, but Rutgers declined because of federal laws that would possibly lose them grant monies, and no cultivation has begun, which will make it unlikely that any cannabis will be available in January.

It appears that the over-regulated plans set up in NJ are backfiring. Bureaucrats haven’t put anything in place and time is running out.


NewsHawk: MedicalNeed: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: North Jersey Local News, Sports, Classifieds, Jobs, Better Living - NorthJersey.com
Author: BARBARA WILLIAMS
Contact: North Jersey Local News, Sports, Classifieds, Jobs, Better Living - NorthJersey.com
Copyright: 2010 North Jersey Media Group
Website: NorthJersey.com: Wait for medical marijuana in NJ frustrates terminally ill patients


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