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Medical marijuana may be legal to prescribe in New Jersey, but virtually impossible to get.
The law allowing seriously ill patients access to prescription marijuana was enacted by Governor John Corzine in 2010, and in 2012 the Medical Marijuana Registry opened to great fanfare. However, according to local doctors, patients who desperately need the drug are unable to get it through legal means and are instead turning to street dealers for easier access.
"Essentially, (having a medical marijuana dispensary) is a good idea and I definitely believe a lot of people will benefit once the program is fully instituted," said Dr. Brian Shaffer. "However because there is currently only one dispensary in Montclair and only patients who live in the radius of that dispensary can have access to the substance, many patients are choosing to get relief on their own and to buy the drug on their own."
The internist, who runs a practice in Princeton Junction, signed up with the state nearly three months ago to be an authorized prescriber because he fully believes in the rehabilitating effects of smoking marijuana offers patients suffering from chronic pain, Multiple Sclerosis or even cancer patients who suffer from nausea after chemo treatments.
However, Shaffer's frustration with the stringent program guidelines has his law-abiding patients holding on to prescriptions without a place to fulfill them.
"I am hearing responses from people who are getting and taking the medication on their own ... but then there are other patients who just don't dare do anything against the law for fear of consequence and they defiantly are not getting any relief."
According to the New Jersey State's Department of Health, the qualification process into the Medical Marijuana Program MMP, requires a patient to establish an existing and bona fide relationship with a doctor who is recognized by the state as a registered prescriber.
The patient must be diagnosed with a debilitating medical condition such as Muscular Dystrophy, terminal cancer or Crohn's Disease in order to qualify. Once verified, the applicant is given a MMP card which must be shown to an alternative treatment center ATC, before the weed can be dispensed. Only two ounces are allowed to be dispensed every two weeks.
Although there are seven qualified physicians in Mercer County who are able to write a prescription, there is currently only one ATC located in Montclair. The department's website does show five more ATC's scheduled to open, however none are currently slated to open in Mercer County.
"Things have dragged on for so long and the program is a long way from really working, so I kind of stopped paying attention," said Steven Levine. The Princeton based psychiatrist signed up to be a registered prescriber in the hopes of providing an alternative treatment to chronically ill patients. "Although I'm a psychiatrist, I have done a fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and I have also studied psychosomatic medications, which overlaps psychiatry and traditional medications."
Levine hoped to provide his patients, who may be suffering emotionally, an alternative to highly addictive narcotic medications or alcohol but has been unable to prescribe any medically necessary weed since the program's official launch in late 2012.
Critics to the program suggest the state's stringent guidelines could be softened to mimic other states, like California's approved bill, which allows patients and caregivers the opportunity to possess no more than eight ounces of dried marijuana and/or six mature (or 12 immature) marijuana plants.
News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: trentonian.com
Author: Sherrina V. Navani
Contact: New Jersey News - NJ News | The Trentonian
Website: Hard to track down medical marijuana in NJ - The Trentonian
The law allowing seriously ill patients access to prescription marijuana was enacted by Governor John Corzine in 2010, and in 2012 the Medical Marijuana Registry opened to great fanfare. However, according to local doctors, patients who desperately need the drug are unable to get it through legal means and are instead turning to street dealers for easier access.
"Essentially, (having a medical marijuana dispensary) is a good idea and I definitely believe a lot of people will benefit once the program is fully instituted," said Dr. Brian Shaffer. "However because there is currently only one dispensary in Montclair and only patients who live in the radius of that dispensary can have access to the substance, many patients are choosing to get relief on their own and to buy the drug on their own."
The internist, who runs a practice in Princeton Junction, signed up with the state nearly three months ago to be an authorized prescriber because he fully believes in the rehabilitating effects of smoking marijuana offers patients suffering from chronic pain, Multiple Sclerosis or even cancer patients who suffer from nausea after chemo treatments.
However, Shaffer's frustration with the stringent program guidelines has his law-abiding patients holding on to prescriptions without a place to fulfill them.
"I am hearing responses from people who are getting and taking the medication on their own ... but then there are other patients who just don't dare do anything against the law for fear of consequence and they defiantly are not getting any relief."
According to the New Jersey State's Department of Health, the qualification process into the Medical Marijuana Program MMP, requires a patient to establish an existing and bona fide relationship with a doctor who is recognized by the state as a registered prescriber.
The patient must be diagnosed with a debilitating medical condition such as Muscular Dystrophy, terminal cancer or Crohn's Disease in order to qualify. Once verified, the applicant is given a MMP card which must be shown to an alternative treatment center ATC, before the weed can be dispensed. Only two ounces are allowed to be dispensed every two weeks.
Although there are seven qualified physicians in Mercer County who are able to write a prescription, there is currently only one ATC located in Montclair. The department's website does show five more ATC's scheduled to open, however none are currently slated to open in Mercer County.
"Things have dragged on for so long and the program is a long way from really working, so I kind of stopped paying attention," said Steven Levine. The Princeton based psychiatrist signed up to be a registered prescriber in the hopes of providing an alternative treatment to chronically ill patients. "Although I'm a psychiatrist, I have done a fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and I have also studied psychosomatic medications, which overlaps psychiatry and traditional medications."
Levine hoped to provide his patients, who may be suffering emotionally, an alternative to highly addictive narcotic medications or alcohol but has been unable to prescribe any medically necessary weed since the program's official launch in late 2012.
Critics to the program suggest the state's stringent guidelines could be softened to mimic other states, like California's approved bill, which allows patients and caregivers the opportunity to possess no more than eight ounces of dried marijuana and/or six mature (or 12 immature) marijuana plants.
News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: trentonian.com
Author: Sherrina V. Navani
Contact: New Jersey News - NJ News | The Trentonian
Website: Hard to track down medical marijuana in NJ - The Trentonian
