New Jersey voted yes to medical marijuana for those suffering from chronic illnesses this week, but promised to make laws governing the drug the least chill in the nation. This means no home growing, no driving high and no more than two ounces per month. The marijuana will only be available at state-regulated dispensaries, which may be expensive to open and operate. With the red tape piling up, will all these restrictions keep weed from those in need?
Card-holding patients will pick up their medicine at "alternative treatment centers," nonprofit or for-profit establishments licensed to grow and distribute marijuana. It’s a tricky business since the dispensaries will need to tailor-fit cannabis strains to appropriate ailments. "During the course of the day, they want to use an energetic strain that keeps people sharp, and at night a different one," marijuana expert Chris Conrad, who teaches at "Oaksterdam University" told the NY Post. "The legislators probably do not realize the sheer number of strains the dispensaries will need to carry." Roseanne Scotti, director of Drug Policy Alliance of New Jersey, is concerned, "if it is too costly and too restrictive, people may not want to open centers."
In other medical marijuana news, NJ may pass the joint to NY. A fledgling medical-marijuana bill passed the New York Assembly's Health Committee yesterday, though its future is far from certain. "If a patient and their physician are in agreement that the most effective way of controlling their symptoms is marijuana, government should not stand in the way of treatment," said Assemblyman Richard Gottfried.
