MEDICINAL POT NOT WORKING AS PLANNED

New Jersey is having a devil of a time trying to provide very sick
people with the comfort medical marijuana can provide, and that is a
shame. As long as the debate ensues, those who need the drug are not
going to get it.

The state Legislature passed and outgoing governor, Jon Corzine,
signed a bill in January clearing the use of pot for medicinal
purposes. New Jersey was breaking no new ground here; 13 other states do this.

The bill's passage followed personal appeals before the Legislature
from very ill people, many of whom admitted to smoking pot illegally
to make their last days as bearable as possible.

When Gov. Chris Christie took office this year, it became his job to
enforce the law.

That's where problems began. The state Health Department issued
guidelines for implementing the law that sponsors of the measure say
are far too rigid. So, supporters of the original law are rewriting
the regulations.

On Monday, they complained that the administration wants to
improperly limit marijuana growers and distribution centers statewide
and that it wants to cap the potency of medicinal pot, something no
other state has done. Last week, the state said it wanted to make
sure that patients did not become "addicted" to medical marijuana.

Before we get to the state's argument, let's touch on the politics of it all.

Christie said at Monday's town hall meeting in Hackettstown that if
Democrats rewrite or try to alter the regulations, it would just
delay the availability of the drug to those who need it. He's right
about that. Democrats would be wiser to get the program up and
running now and then try to change it down the road. They would have
the ammunition to do that if, for example, the regulations stopped
ill people from obtaining the drug.

That said, you have to look at some of the administration's comments
on this and shake your head. Specifically, the one last week about
patients getting addicted to marijuana. Millions smoke marijuana
(illegally) and millions more have tried it at least once. This is
not an addictive drug. Just ask anyone who has smoked it. To suggest
otherwise is to ignore reality.

The crux of the matter here seems philosophical more than anything else.

Debating the "evils" of marijuana goes back to the 1960s, or maybe
even to "Reefer Madness" the 1938 film that suggested marijuana use
turns people into killers.

Now it's 2010 and the divide between those who see marijuana as a
deadly drug and those who would have no qualms with complete
legalization remains. It's easy to see what camp the conservative
governor and the liberal Democrats in the Legislature are in.

Those caught in the middle are those ill with cancer, Multiple
Sclerosis and other ailments that demand alternative treatment. And
that's a pity.