MEDICAL MARIJUANA DELAY UNACCEPTABLE

The last thing chronically and terminally ill residents of New Jersey
need is more delay in easing their suffering. They should not have to
keep waiting for implementation of the Compassionate Use Medical
Marijuana Act. It's been more than a year, and not one cannabis plant
has been grown for the program.

True, most of the problems have been caused by Gov. Chris Christie's
overly restrictive regulations. But a plan by Sen. Nicholas Scutari,
D-Middlesex, to force the administration to go back to square one to
rewrite the regulations may wind up doing more harm than good.

Scutari is rightly concerned that the governor's proposals would bar
dispensaries from making home deliveries, even for terminally ill
patients, and limit the levels of the active ingredient, THC -- capped
at 10 percent.

True enough. But Scutari has scheduled a hearing Thursday with the
Democratic-controlled Senate Health Committee that could lead to a
rewrite of the rules. Other Democrats said they fear the rewrite
process could significantly delay the launch of the program.

That would be unfortunate. Especially since Assemblyman Reed Gusciora,
D-Mercer, says Christie already has made adequate changes, with the
governor upping the number of facilities to grow and distribute the
marijuana to six, as the law calls for.

He says the amendments "encompass parts of the compromise I had
reached with the governor. They're not perfect, but it's a starting
point. I believe half a loaf is better than no loaf."

Last month, Christie struck a deal with Gusciora, a Democrat from
Princeton who pushed for legal cannabis for patients, to make changes
to his regulations. Among them: allowing six establishments to both
grow and distribute the drug -- as the law called for.

Previously, Christie had wanted only two places to be allowed to grow
it and four to distribute it. But Scutari, the Legislature's other
chief advocate of medical marijuana, didn't agree to the deal. And 10
days after it was struck, the Senate sided with him and voted to tell
the administration that the regulations didn't meet the Legislature's
intent.

The vote gave the Christie administration 30 days to draft new
regulations. Christie hasn't complied with that resolution -- or even
formally introduced the reworked regulations, although the
administration says those reworked rules would be made public on Thursday.

Scutari said this is likely the only time significant changes can be
made, adding: "We only have one shot with this. We have to get it right."

If there is one thing certain about the law of the land, it is that it
can be changed. It's time to get the program going and alleviate the
suffering of so many New Jersey residents.

The Legislature should wait until those belated regulations are
announced before sending the whole program back to the starting gate.