Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
Eighteen months after Gov. Chris Christie signed a law allowing parents to purchase edible marijuana products for their severely ill children, nothing is available for sale because the health department has not yet approved the manufacturing guidelines.
Michael Weisser, CEO for the Garden State Dispensary in Woodbridge and a spokesman for the two other open New Jersey dispensaries, said the state health department has "stonewalled" his application to make cannabis-infused oil, tinctures and lozenges for a year. State officials came to a demonstration of its manufacturing process in April, using butane to cook down and extract the active ingredients -- a process regularly used in his Colorado dispensaries, Weisser said.
"After our demonstration, we got no feedback," Weisser said. "Make a decision. Give us guidelines. Is our machine okay?"
Weisser said the program director, John O'Brien told him it is "out of his hands - it has to go to the eighth floor," the location of Health Commissioner Mary O'Dowd's office. "This is being stonewalled and has to be addressed."
Weisser was among the patients and medical marijuana activists who testified before the Assembly Regulatory Oversight Committee that little had improved since the last time the committee met to discuss the program 13 months ago.
Ken Wolski, a registered nurse and the founder of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana of New Jersey, said he sent a formal request in October for the department to consider adding more illnesses and conditions that would allow more people to qualify for the program. Post traumatic stress disorder can be found on the list in most states with a medicinal marijuana program, and could be a lifeline to returning war veterans.
"Marijuana has enormous therapeutic potential but most people who could benefit from it do not have a qualifying condition," Wolski said. "The process of adding condition has not even started yet."
Wolski said in a state with 30,000 doctors and 9 million people, there are only 350 doctors who have signed up to refer patients, and as of earlier this year, 3,700 patient. The program suffers from "a failure to thrive because of the lack of political will to create a meaningful program."
The governor won't help because he "has said these programs are just a front for legalization," Wolski added.
No one from the health department attended the hearing, but state spokeswoman Donna Leusner said in a statement Monday that progress is taking place behind the scenes:
- The health department is "completing manufacturing guidelines that will serve as a guide for the Alternative Treatment Centers in producing lozenges, topical formulations and edible forms of medicinal marijuana," Leusner wrote in an email. She declined to say when they would be ready.
Ask to comment on Weisser's demonstration last spring, Leusner said: "The demonstration reinforced the importance of a manufacturing standard to ensure the safety of ATC employees who produce the product and patients who purchase it." She declined to elaborate.
- The program's annual report – its second since the law's passage five years ago – is complete and under department review, she said. She did not say when the report would be released. The law requires two annual reports to be filed before the state would consider adding more conditions.
- The health department will respond by March 15 to Wolski's request to add post traumatic stress disorder and chronic pain to the list of qualifying conditions.
As of yesterday, Leusner said, there 4,284 patients and 379 registered physicians.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: N.J. medical marijuana program stagnating because state limits illnesses, bars edibles, critics say | NJ.com
Author: Susan K. Livio
Contact: slivio@njadvancemedia.com
Photo Credit: Andrew Miller
Website: New Jersey Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - NJ.com
Michael Weisser, CEO for the Garden State Dispensary in Woodbridge and a spokesman for the two other open New Jersey dispensaries, said the state health department has "stonewalled" his application to make cannabis-infused oil, tinctures and lozenges for a year. State officials came to a demonstration of its manufacturing process in April, using butane to cook down and extract the active ingredients -- a process regularly used in his Colorado dispensaries, Weisser said.
"After our demonstration, we got no feedback," Weisser said. "Make a decision. Give us guidelines. Is our machine okay?"
Weisser said the program director, John O'Brien told him it is "out of his hands - it has to go to the eighth floor," the location of Health Commissioner Mary O'Dowd's office. "This is being stonewalled and has to be addressed."
Weisser was among the patients and medical marijuana activists who testified before the Assembly Regulatory Oversight Committee that little had improved since the last time the committee met to discuss the program 13 months ago.
Ken Wolski, a registered nurse and the founder of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana of New Jersey, said he sent a formal request in October for the department to consider adding more illnesses and conditions that would allow more people to qualify for the program. Post traumatic stress disorder can be found on the list in most states with a medicinal marijuana program, and could be a lifeline to returning war veterans.
"Marijuana has enormous therapeutic potential but most people who could benefit from it do not have a qualifying condition," Wolski said. "The process of adding condition has not even started yet."
Wolski said in a state with 30,000 doctors and 9 million people, there are only 350 doctors who have signed up to refer patients, and as of earlier this year, 3,700 patient. The program suffers from "a failure to thrive because of the lack of political will to create a meaningful program."
The governor won't help because he "has said these programs are just a front for legalization," Wolski added.
No one from the health department attended the hearing, but state spokeswoman Donna Leusner said in a statement Monday that progress is taking place behind the scenes:
- The health department is "completing manufacturing guidelines that will serve as a guide for the Alternative Treatment Centers in producing lozenges, topical formulations and edible forms of medicinal marijuana," Leusner wrote in an email. She declined to say when they would be ready.
Ask to comment on Weisser's demonstration last spring, Leusner said: "The demonstration reinforced the importance of a manufacturing standard to ensure the safety of ATC employees who produce the product and patients who purchase it." She declined to elaborate.
- The program's annual report – its second since the law's passage five years ago – is complete and under department review, she said. She did not say when the report would be released. The law requires two annual reports to be filed before the state would consider adding more conditions.
- The health department will respond by March 15 to Wolski's request to add post traumatic stress disorder and chronic pain to the list of qualifying conditions.
As of yesterday, Leusner said, there 4,284 patients and 379 registered physicians.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: N.J. medical marijuana program stagnating because state limits illnesses, bars edibles, critics say | NJ.com
Author: Susan K. Livio
Contact: slivio@njadvancemedia.com
Photo Credit: Andrew Miller
Website: New Jersey Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - NJ.com
