MARIJUANA RULES MUST BE EASED

The science is irrefutable: Medical marijuana can relieve pain for
people with chronic or even fatal illnesses. And it can alleviate the
nausea associated with cancer treatments. That is why the Legislature
passed, and Gov. Jon Corzine signed into law, the "New Jersey
Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act" right before he left office.

That now looks like it was the easy part. Implementing the law, and
getting the marijuana to people who need it or could benefit from it,
seems to be a whole different matter.

Gov. Chris Christie has called for such strict regulations on the
distribution and use of medical marijuana that earlier this week two
committees, one in the state Senate and the other in the Assembly,
passed resolutions declaring that the regulations would not fulfill
the intent of the law. If the concurrent resolutions are approved by
both houses of the Legislature, the state Department of Health and
Human Services must rewrite some of the rules.

Understandably, the Christie administration wants to avoid the
problems with the use of medical marijuana experienced in some other
states - abuses of the system tantamount to de facto legalization. But
some of the proposed regulations seem so draconian as to invite
comparison with the 1930s' fear-mongering film "Reefer Madness."

The proposed rules, not yet officially published and typically subject
to a 60-day public comment period once published, would limit the
number of illnesses that would qualify for the marijuana treatment.
That is the sort of decision best left to physicians and their patients.

The regulations would require patients to have an ongoing relationship
with a physician, who would have to certify that other drugs had
failed to alleviate pain. Why should cannabis have to be the treatment
of last resort?

Christie also would prohibit the marijuana from containing more than
10 percent of its active ingredient. Doesn't the production of "pot
lite" undermine the whole point of the legislation?

Surely there must be some middle ground. The governor and the
Legislature should find it. And soon. People are suffering.