Jacob Bell
New Member
MAPLE SHADE, N.J. – For the first time next week, a New Jersey community will have an opportunity to weigh in a medical marijuana business's plan to set up shop.
Compassionate Sciences Alternative Treatment Center is scheduled to go before the zoning board in the Philadelphia suburb of Maple Shade to explain details of its plans to open a dispensary in a now-vacant former home of an office furniture store bounded by highways.
Compassionate Sciences is one of six nonprofit organizations licensed to sell pot to patients in New Jersey, which has the strictest medical marijuana law among the 16 states that have voted to allow it.
Appearing before a zoning board is a major step for a fledgling industry that so far said little about how it plans to operate since New Jersey legalized medical marijuana early last year.
Former Gov. Jon Corzine, a Democrat, signed the law as one of his last acts before leaving office in January 2010. Republican Gov. Chris Christie, who said during his 2009 campaign that he supported the concept of allowing marijuana for patients with certain conditions, had qualms about the law itself.
His administration pushed back its deadline to make regulations for running the program, then held things up while awaiting assurances from the federal prosecutors that they wouldn't arrest patients, businesses and state officials who will license, inspect and monitor the businesses as long as they are following the state's law. He never got that word, but on July 20, he announced he'd move ahead with the program anyway.
In California, federal prosecutors have told at least 16 marijuana dispensaries to close down within 45 days, noting that federal law – which bans marijuana use – takes precedence over the state law that allows it. Neither Christie's spokesman nor a spokeswoman for the state Health and Senior Services Department would comment Friday on the California crackdown and what it might mean for New Jersey.
New Jersey Health Department spokeswoman Donna Leusner said Friday that the state plans to finalize regulations and allow qualified patients begin registering as medical marijuana users by the end of 2011. So far, Leusner said, 105 physicians have registered so they can certify that patients are eligible to use the drug. In New Jersey, only patients with certain conditions, including multiple sclerosis, glaucoma and terminal cancer are eligible.
State officials have said they hope to have alternative treatment centers running by early next year. At least three of the centers say they plan to open in the first few months of 2012.
But for most, basic details remain, including finding sites for their businesses. Only two have publicly announced locations.
Compassionate Sciences spokesman Andrei Bogolubov said his group wants to sell at the Maple Shade facility and grow elsewhere.
He said he's had meetings with local officials. "The police chief has spoken to us," Bogolubov said. "We provided a lot of answers."
He said New Jersey's law limits access to the drug so that the abuse seen in some other states is less likely here and state law has strict requirements for security.
The group would need a zoning variance to have a medical office at a site approved now for a store.
The spot has few neighbors to raise objections. It's in a stand-alone building on Route 73, about a mile from the New Jersey Turnpike. The spot, next to a spa and fireplace store, is relatively isolated because it's in a corner of Burlington County sliced up by several major roads. An apartment complex sits a few blocks from the site – but it's across a highway and there's no sidewalk along portions of the road between the apartments and the proposed dispensary.
Maple Shade Township Manager Gary LaVenia and Mayor Claire Volpe both said they could not speak about the plan now because they're both on the zoning board that has to consider whether to grant the variance. LaVenia said he has heard no complaints so far.
Bill Thomas, the CEO of Compassionate Care Foundation, told The Philadelphia Inquirer this week that his group intends to convert a factory in Westampton for growing, processing and dispensing the drug. He said the use fits with zoning requirements, so no variance or public hearing is needed. The group chose the site after looking at about 30 others.
"We had some rejections by the landlords, no rejections by towns," Thomas told The Inquirer. He did not return calls or emails from The Associated Press.
Other groups say they expect to make announcements soon about their planned locations.
Al Gaburo, a spokesman for Foundation Harmony, said his group expects to choose a location within two to three weeks. He said the location might need approval from both a local zoning board and the Meadowlands Commission, which has say in land-use in some parts of northern New Jersey.
Compassionate Care Centers of America Foundation is looking for a place in central New Jersey. The organization's lawyer, Yale Galanter, said he doesn't plan to go before any zoning board.
"Generally speaking, I only want to be in places that a) I think are appropriate; b) meet the criteria that is outlined under state law and c) that the local population the local community wants us to be there," he said. "We want to be good neighbors."
News Hawk- Jacob Ebel 420 MAGAZINE
Source: therepublic.com
Author: Geoff Mulvihill
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: The Republic
Website: 1 group that wants to sell medical marijuana in NJ will face a public hearing next week
Compassionate Sciences Alternative Treatment Center is scheduled to go before the zoning board in the Philadelphia suburb of Maple Shade to explain details of its plans to open a dispensary in a now-vacant former home of an office furniture store bounded by highways.
Compassionate Sciences is one of six nonprofit organizations licensed to sell pot to patients in New Jersey, which has the strictest medical marijuana law among the 16 states that have voted to allow it.
Appearing before a zoning board is a major step for a fledgling industry that so far said little about how it plans to operate since New Jersey legalized medical marijuana early last year.
Former Gov. Jon Corzine, a Democrat, signed the law as one of his last acts before leaving office in January 2010. Republican Gov. Chris Christie, who said during his 2009 campaign that he supported the concept of allowing marijuana for patients with certain conditions, had qualms about the law itself.
His administration pushed back its deadline to make regulations for running the program, then held things up while awaiting assurances from the federal prosecutors that they wouldn't arrest patients, businesses and state officials who will license, inspect and monitor the businesses as long as they are following the state's law. He never got that word, but on July 20, he announced he'd move ahead with the program anyway.
In California, federal prosecutors have told at least 16 marijuana dispensaries to close down within 45 days, noting that federal law – which bans marijuana use – takes precedence over the state law that allows it. Neither Christie's spokesman nor a spokeswoman for the state Health and Senior Services Department would comment Friday on the California crackdown and what it might mean for New Jersey.
New Jersey Health Department spokeswoman Donna Leusner said Friday that the state plans to finalize regulations and allow qualified patients begin registering as medical marijuana users by the end of 2011. So far, Leusner said, 105 physicians have registered so they can certify that patients are eligible to use the drug. In New Jersey, only patients with certain conditions, including multiple sclerosis, glaucoma and terminal cancer are eligible.
State officials have said they hope to have alternative treatment centers running by early next year. At least three of the centers say they plan to open in the first few months of 2012.
But for most, basic details remain, including finding sites for their businesses. Only two have publicly announced locations.
Compassionate Sciences spokesman Andrei Bogolubov said his group wants to sell at the Maple Shade facility and grow elsewhere.
He said he's had meetings with local officials. "The police chief has spoken to us," Bogolubov said. "We provided a lot of answers."
He said New Jersey's law limits access to the drug so that the abuse seen in some other states is less likely here and state law has strict requirements for security.
The group would need a zoning variance to have a medical office at a site approved now for a store.
The spot has few neighbors to raise objections. It's in a stand-alone building on Route 73, about a mile from the New Jersey Turnpike. The spot, next to a spa and fireplace store, is relatively isolated because it's in a corner of Burlington County sliced up by several major roads. An apartment complex sits a few blocks from the site – but it's across a highway and there's no sidewalk along portions of the road between the apartments and the proposed dispensary.
Maple Shade Township Manager Gary LaVenia and Mayor Claire Volpe both said they could not speak about the plan now because they're both on the zoning board that has to consider whether to grant the variance. LaVenia said he has heard no complaints so far.
Bill Thomas, the CEO of Compassionate Care Foundation, told The Philadelphia Inquirer this week that his group intends to convert a factory in Westampton for growing, processing and dispensing the drug. He said the use fits with zoning requirements, so no variance or public hearing is needed. The group chose the site after looking at about 30 others.
"We had some rejections by the landlords, no rejections by towns," Thomas told The Inquirer. He did not return calls or emails from The Associated Press.
Other groups say they expect to make announcements soon about their planned locations.
Al Gaburo, a spokesman for Foundation Harmony, said his group expects to choose a location within two to three weeks. He said the location might need approval from both a local zoning board and the Meadowlands Commission, which has say in land-use in some parts of northern New Jersey.
Compassionate Care Centers of America Foundation is looking for a place in central New Jersey. The organization's lawyer, Yale Galanter, said he doesn't plan to go before any zoning board.
"Generally speaking, I only want to be in places that a) I think are appropriate; b) meet the criteria that is outlined under state law and c) that the local population the local community wants us to be there," he said. "We want to be good neighbors."
News Hawk- Jacob Ebel 420 MAGAZINE
Source: therepublic.com
Author: Geoff Mulvihill
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: The Republic
Website: 1 group that wants to sell medical marijuana in NJ will face a public hearing next week
