ADVOCATES DEFEND MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Committees Decry Proposed Limits

TRENTON - Medical marijuana advocates convinced some state
legislators Monday that Gov. Chris Christie's administration had
overreached in its attempt to limit New Jersey's new medical marijuana
law.

Two committees, one in the state Senate and the other in the Assembly,
passed resolutions declaring that proposed regulations would not
fulfill the intent of the law, which was signed as one of the last
acts of Democratic Gov. Jon S. Corzine before he left office in January.

Sen. Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, shepherded one resolution through the
Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee on a 6-1
vote. She said that medical marijuana might have been a better
alternative to the morphine given to her husband as he died.

"Marijuana would have been preferable to the other drugs that
eliminate interpersonal communication skills at a time when those
skills are so important," Weinberg said.

The other resolution unanimously passed the Assembly Regulatory
Oversight and Gaming Committee.

The resolutions are in reaction to pending regulations put forth by
the state Department of Health and Senior Services. If the resolutions
are approved by both houses of the state Legislature, the department
must rewrite some of the rules, according to a lobbyist on the issues
and the spokesman for the Senate Democrats.

The proposed rules would limit the number of illnesses that would
qualify for the marijuana treatment; require patients to have an
ongoing relationship with a physician who would have to certify that
other drugs had failed to alleviate pain; and prohibit the marijuana
from containing more than 10 percent of its active ingredient.

The proposed rules would also forbid a medical marijuana dispensary to
be located in a drug-free school zone, and would bar the dispensaries
from serving beverages or food.

Christie has said publicly that he wants New Jersey to avoid problems
experienced in other states, where medical marijuana laws have created
a cottage industry of store-front clinics, and where the drug is
easily dispensed for a host of ailments.

Some activists said in interviews Monday that they ultimately want
marijuana legalized, but a dozen or so suffering from severe illnesses
testified and pleaded their case to get easier access.

Diana Riportella, 54, of Egg Harbor Township, who suffers from Lou
Gehrig's disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS), sat in front
of both Assembly and Senate committees and cried as she stated that
only marijuana helps to ease the pain and cope with her situation.

"When I smoke marijuana, it makes me feel like there is hope for me,"
Riportella said. "Please, don't make me suffer anymore."

But Martin Lynch of the New Jersey Narcotic Officers Association
argued in favor of the stricter proposed regulations because of abuses
that he said have occurred in other states.

He said in an interview that narcotic officers from around the country
have reported widespread problems with the new medical marijuana laws.

"I base my opinions on what I have seen in the streets for 25 years,"
Lynch said. "These dispensaries would be a magnet for crime."