The Senate sent the N.J. health department back to the drawing board, giving the Christie administration 30 days to rewrite the marijuana potency rules Watch video
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Beatriz Herrera-Rodden shows off some of her marijuana samples at the Cannabis Crown 2010 expo April 18 in Colorado.The Legislature defied Gov. Chris Christie’s latest compromise on New Jersey’s stalled medical marijuana law today, voting to repeal the governor’s rules and requiring the administration to rewrite the regulations.
The Senate voted, 22-16, to send the state health department back to the drawing board, giving the Christie administration 30 days to rewrite the rules that now would limit the potency of the drug that could be sold.
Hours after the vote on Sen. Nicholas Scutari’s resolution, the Union County Democrat introduced a new measure demanding the Attorney General rewrite its rules regarding physicians who prescribe marijuana to their patients. The Attorney General’s rules are so strict, Scutari said, that they would discourage many doctors from participating, a possibility he called "chilling."
Scutari then called upon the Christie administration to work toward "a real compromise so people who want to be in the business, and sick people who desperately need this medicine can get together in a way that is legal and viable.’’
Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for the governor, called Scutari’s "transparent maneuvering pure and simple politics.’’
"It is truly unfortunate that the senator will now further delay providing patients in need with the critical relief already achieved by Governor Christie and Assemblyman (Reed) Gusciora’s bipartisan solution,’’ Drewniak said. "Senator Scutari’s current objections were not even addressed in the original bill" he sponsored.
Among other restrictions, advocates for the law object to the health department’s desire to limit the potency level of the drug licensed dispensaries can grow and sell. They also oppose the rule drafted by the Attorney General’s Division of Consumer Affairs that requires doctors to wean patients off the marijuana as soon as possible.
"The administration has tried painstakingly to make the medical marijuana regulations as prohibitive as possible for patients," Scutari said. "It’s time the governor and his administration stopped creating unnecessary delays to our medical marijuana program and put forward regulations that comply with the law so we can finally get relief to the sick and dying patients who so desperately need it."
On Dec. 3, Christie reached an agreement with Gusciora (D-Mercer), the Assembly sponsor of the medical marijuana law. The agreement called for six dispensaries or "alternative treatment centers’’ to grow and sell the drug, as the law specifies, instead of Christie’s proposal that only four outlets initially sell pot grown by two farmers.
The governor also agreed to follow the law and require that doctors treating patients with seizure disorders, intractable skeletal muscular spasticity or glaucoma attest in writing that all conventional treatment methods had failed. The administration wanted that requirement for all patients, including people with cancer, Lou Gehrig’s disease and AIDS.
Patients and advocacy groups said they supported today’s legislative action, though they recognized the squabble is likely to postpone what was supposed to be a July 2011 start date.
"I’m tired of fighting for what I deserve,’’ Diane Riportella of Egg Harbor Town
Previous coverage:
• N.J. lawmakers to decide whether to go against Gov. Christie on medical marijuana rules
• Medical marijuana issue in N.J. pits pain-relief proof against politics
• Gov. Christie will allow 6 N.J. nonprofits to grow, sell medical marijuana
• Gov. Christie softens stance on production, distribution of medical marijuana
•Legislature is right to kill Christie's pot rules
• N.J. Assembly votes against Christie's medical marijuana rules, but Senate delays action
• Proposed medical marijuana rules again face scrutiny from N.J. lawmakers
• Star-Ledger Guest Columnist: Snuffing out medical marijuana
• N.J. doctors required to 'make reasonable efforts' to wean patients off medical marijuana
• N.J. Senate, Assembly committees approve repealing medical marijuana rules
• Complete coverage of the New Jersey medical marijuana legislationship, who has Lou Gehrig’s disease, said before the vote. "I don’t have much time left and I want to see this program started before I am no longer here."