Medical Marijuana Act Signed Into Law: Some Chronically Ill New Jerseyans Rejoice While Others Continue to Wait
Filed under: Chronic Conditions, Drugs & Medical Devices
Photo by Troy Holden via Flickr
As expected, on January 18, 2010, Governor Jon Corzine signed the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act into law, making New Jersey the 14th state to legalize marijuana for medical use. Seton Hall Law’s Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law & Policy endorsed the Act in a position paper distributed to key lawmakers in June 2009.
The Act’s backers celebrated its passage with “hugs and tears,” while its opponents expressed continued concerns, including that the for-profit “alternative treatment centers” that the Act will allow to grow and distribute marijuana will have negative effects on the neighborhoods where they are established. An interesting abcnews.com article by Susan Donaldson James highlights a third constituency: New Jerseyans with chronic illnesses that are responsive to treatment with marijuana but who are not considered to have debilitating medical conditions under the Act.
The article profiles Jack O’Brien of Laurel Lake, New Jersey who was born without fingers and toes and suffers from “crushing neuropathic pain.” He wakes up to shooting pain in his arms and legs and can only walk short distances on his deformed feet. According to O’Brien, smoking marijuana is “like having a valve on the forearm, turning it and having the coolness of relief through my extremities. … I try to walk on these feet and I can go four or five blocks, with my wife. With marijuana, I can go forever.” State Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, who was a prime sponsor of the Act, explained that while he had empathy for O’Brien and others in his position, the legislature “had to do a measured approach,” citing fears that New Jersey could become another California, where medical marijuana “seemed to be spiraling out of control.” Assemblyman Gusciora promised that in two years the legislature would “revisit the issue and add ailments.”
Addendum:
While Jack O’Brien’s case provides only anecdotal evidence of marijuana’s efficacy against neuropathic pain, as the Center noted in its position paper, “in the past two years, three placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind clinical trials published in the medical literature have demonstrated that smoked marijuana is effective against neuropathic pain, including for patients who have tried the available conventional treatments and are still in pain.” The existence of this evidence is remarkable because, as recent articles in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal explain, researchers must surmount formidable hurdles to study marijuana’s potential medical uses.
For those who are curious, under the compromise version of the Act which was signed into law January 18th, “debilitating medical condition” is defined to include the following:
- Seizure disorder, including epilepsy, if resistant to conventional medical therapy;
- Intractable skeletal muscular spasticity, if resistant to conventional medical therapy;
- Glaucoma, if resistant to conventional medical therapy;
- HIV or the treatment of HIV, if it causes severe or chronic pain, severe nausea or vomiting, cachexia, or wasting syndrome;
- AIDS or the treatment of AIDS, if it causes severe or chronic pain, severe nausea or vomiting, cachexia, or wasting syndrome;
- Cancer or the treatment of cancer, if it causes severe or chronic pain, severe nausea or vomiting, cachexia, or wasting syndrome;
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis;
- Multiple sclerosis;
- Terminal cancer;
- Muscular dystrophy;
- Inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn’s disease; and
- Terminal illness, if the physician has determined a prognosis of less than 12 months of life.
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Medical Marijuana Act Signed Into Law: Some Chronically Ill New Jerseyans Rejoice While Others Continue to Wait
January 20, 2010 by Kate Greenwood · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Chronic Conditions, Drugs & Medical Devices
Photo by Troy Holden via Flickr
Photo by Troy Holden via Flickr
As expected, on January 18, 2010, Governor Jon Corzine signed the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act into law, making New Jersey the 14th state to legalize marijuana for medical use. Seton Hall Law’s Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law & Policy endorsed the Act in a position paper distributed to key lawmakers in June 2009.
The Act’s backers celebrated its passage with “hugs and tears,” while its opponents expressed continued concerns, including that the for-profit “alternative treatment centers” that the Act will allow to grow and distribute marijuana will have negative effects on the neighborhoods where they are established. An interesting abcnews.com article by Susan Donaldson James highlights a third constituency: New Jerseyans with chronic illnesses that are responsive to treatment with marijuana but who are not considered to have debilitating medical conditions under the Act.
Noting that a decision to grant bail this week is a step in the right direction, New Jersey State Senators Raymond Lesniak and Nicholas Scutari today renewed their calls for clemency for New Jersey medical marijuana user John Ray Wilson, a Franklin Township resident who suffers from multiple sclerosis (MS) and grew marijuana plants in his backyard to help relieve the symptoms of his disease.
Earlier this year, Mr. Wilson was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of possession and second-degree drug manufacturing. The second-degree manufacturing charge - an offense that was designed to be brought against drug cartels and large-scale drug pushers and not against individuals growing marijuana for personal, medical use - precludes Wilson from entering into supervised probation, which the legislators say would be a more appropriate setting for someone suffering from a chronic illness like MS.
“Given the court’s decision to grant bail, I think Governor Christie should review the particulars of this case and pardon Mr. Wilson from the most serious charges,” said Senator Lesniak, D-Union. “It’s simply cruel and unusual punishment, and serves no State purpose to lock away an individual suffering from multiple sclerosis and treat him as if he were a drug kingpin. It would be a far more rational, compassionate use of State resources to get Mr. Wilson into supervised probation, and help him find a legal avenue to relieve the symptoms of his disease.”