MEDICAL MARIJUANA ACT PASSES NJ PANEL

N.J. Senate Measure Would Allow Chronically Ill to Own Six Plants, 1 Ounce

TRENTON - New Jersey took a major step toward becoming the latest
state to allow certain patients to use marijuana Monday, when the
Senate's Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee
approved the Compassionate Use Medicinal Marijuana Act by a vote of 6-1.

Elise Segal, who testified in support of the legislation, said the
committee's vote "really brings me to tears, not just for me as a
someone suffering from multiple sclerosis, but as a registered nurse
and for all the people that I've treated."

The Department of Health and Senior Services would register people
with debilitating medical conditions, which would include cancer,
glaucoma, HIV or AIDS, or other diseases that cause wasting, chronic
pain, severe nausea, seizures, severe and persistent muscle spasms.
The department then would issue a photo identity card and allow those
registered to possess as many as "six marijuana plants and an ounce
of usable marijuana," according to the bill.

As a result, the person would not be subject to arrest or penalty for
the use of marijuana. Under the Controlled Substances Act, the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration classifies marijuana as Schedule I, the
most restrictive class of drugs.

The federal prohibitions will remain, but the bill's supporters said
the overwhelming number of prosecutions are under state law, so it
would lift most of the prohibitions.

The bill still bars people from operating a car, boat or airplane
under the influence of marijuana. It also bans people from smoking
marijuana on a school bus, public property or beach, or in a
correctional institute or park.

The bill would also apply to patients younger than 18, but it
requires a parent or guardian's informed approval.

A late amendment would also allow people to start Medicinal Marijuana
Alternate Treatment Centers, which would dispense regulated marijuana.

The measure was first proposed in 2005, but Monday marked the first
time a bill has cleared a state legislative committee. Thirteen other
states have approved similar measures.

Testimony was a tug-of-war between advocates who testified how
smoking marijuana can relieve pain and suffering and opponents who
said the drug is dangerously untested and its partial legalization
would increase crime and drug addiction.

Sen. Jim Whelan, D-Atlantic - who cosponsored the bill with Sen.
Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, Somerset, Middlesex - said, "I think the
consequences of not acting is far worse with all of the pain and
suffering we have heard about here today."

Similarly, Sen. Bill Baroni, R-Middlesex, Mercer, the only Republican
to vote in support, said after a weekend of consideration, "There is
too much pain, too much hurt, too much suffering, and we can do
something about it."

The hearing included Brent Zettl, president of Prairie Plant Systems
Inc., of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, who testified via video on the
process the company uses to produce sterilized medicinal marijuana.
He said a challenge in court essentially pushed the company into
business, but now it covers 30 percent of the Canadian market.

Segal was also one of several patients who told senators how
marijuana helps them in their fight against illness.

"I am able to relieve my multiple sclerosis symptoms, but I run the
risk of being a criminal," Segal said. "You have the power to relieve
my suffering."

Other New Jersey groups in support of the bill included the Academy
of Family Physicians, League for Nursing, local chapters of the
Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and the Hospice and Palliative Care
Organization.

Opponents of the measure questioned why people would be allowed to
grow so many plants, how effective any smoked drug could be, and said
there is too much uncertainty without FDA approval.

Joyce Nalepka, president of Drug-Free Kids: America's Challenge, said
medicinal marijuana sends the message to children that harmful drugs
are legal. She also said drug abuse has risen in states where
marijuana is legal for medicinal purposes.

The committee approved the bill 6-1 with two abstentions. It now
heads to the full Senate for a vote as early as January. A companion
measure was introduced to the Assembly Health and Senior Services
Committee in January.