Smokin Moose
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex Moderator
Patients suffering from cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis and other life-threatening illnesses would be allowed to use marijuana to alleviate their symptoms under a measure to be considered today by New Jersey lawmakers.
The Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act is scheduled to be debated before an Assembly health panel.
Twelve states already allow the use of medical marijuana for chronically ill patients.
The measure would permit certain patients to register with the Department of Health and Human Services to legally possess and use the drug, which has been shown to relieve nausea from chemotherapy, muscle spasms and chronic pain and to reverse appetite loss.
"It does not make sense for many of New Jersey's citizens to suffer when there is a viable way to ease their pain," said bill sponsor Reed Gusciora, D-Mercer.
Gusciora said there is no evidence of increased drug use in the dozen states that already allow for medical marijuana.
The New Jersey bill enjoys bipartisan sponsorship.
Republican Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll of Morris County said it is key for doctors to be permitted to use their judgment.
"If you can go to your doctor and get a derivative of the poppy to treat pain, why can't you get a derivative of the cannabis plant to treat your symptoms," Carroll asked. "If a doctor using his or her best medical judgment thinks marijuana is the best thing for the patient, he or she should be allowed to recommend it."
Medical marijuana bills have been introduced before in New Jersey, but have failed to advance.
However, a Senate health panel heard from television personality Montel Williams and other advocates two years ago during an information session. Williams, a registered medical marijuana user in California, said he turned to marijuana to relieve debilitating knee and foot pain after trying Oxycontin and a variety of other drugs to no avail.
The bill now pending would allow patients to use marijuana medicinally by smoking it, eating it or taking it in tablets as prescribed by a doctor. The amount of marijuana a patient could possess would be capped at 1 ounce and patients would be issued cards identifying them as registered medical marijuana users.
Source: News Journal, The (Wilmington, DE)
Copyright: 2008 The News Journal
Contact: delawareonline | Wilmington Opinion | The News Journal
Website: https://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/
The Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act is scheduled to be debated before an Assembly health panel.
Twelve states already allow the use of medical marijuana for chronically ill patients.
The measure would permit certain patients to register with the Department of Health and Human Services to legally possess and use the drug, which has been shown to relieve nausea from chemotherapy, muscle spasms and chronic pain and to reverse appetite loss.
"It does not make sense for many of New Jersey's citizens to suffer when there is a viable way to ease their pain," said bill sponsor Reed Gusciora, D-Mercer.
Gusciora said there is no evidence of increased drug use in the dozen states that already allow for medical marijuana.
The New Jersey bill enjoys bipartisan sponsorship.
Republican Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll of Morris County said it is key for doctors to be permitted to use their judgment.
"If you can go to your doctor and get a derivative of the poppy to treat pain, why can't you get a derivative of the cannabis plant to treat your symptoms," Carroll asked. "If a doctor using his or her best medical judgment thinks marijuana is the best thing for the patient, he or she should be allowed to recommend it."
Medical marijuana bills have been introduced before in New Jersey, but have failed to advance.
However, a Senate health panel heard from television personality Montel Williams and other advocates two years ago during an information session. Williams, a registered medical marijuana user in California, said he turned to marijuana to relieve debilitating knee and foot pain after trying Oxycontin and a variety of other drugs to no avail.
The bill now pending would allow patients to use marijuana medicinally by smoking it, eating it or taking it in tablets as prescribed by a doctor. The amount of marijuana a patient could possess would be capped at 1 ounce and patients would be issued cards identifying them as registered medical marijuana users.
Source: News Journal, The (Wilmington, DE)
Copyright: 2008 The News Journal
Contact: delawareonline | Wilmington Opinion | The News Journal
Website: https://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/
