Today, after a delay of more than two years, patients eligible for New Jersey’s medical marijuana program were finally allowed to apply for the licenses that would protect them from arrest. Seriously ill individuals who could qualify for the program have been waiting diligently while the state government dragged its feet with implementation since the law took effect in mid-2010.
Unfortunately, it could be some time before licensed patients will be able to legally acquire their medicine. New Jersey’s law does not allow for home cultivation, and all medicine must be purchased at state-licensed nonprofit dispensaries. Licensing of these dispensaries has been consistently delayed as well. To date, only six have been granted preliminary approval, and only one is preparing to serve patients.
This is great news for the seriously ill of the Garden State and their families. If there are no further delays, patients should be able to access their medicine by the end of the year. How easily they will be able to get it will be another story, but at least licensed patients will no longer have to fear being treated like criminals for using the medicine that works best for them.
Stall tactics from that fast bastard mafia pig of a governor.
Please let us know when Florida and North Carolina accepts patient applications for medical marijunna
Will the federal government honor these licenses and for how long?
I am totaly agreeing with jane…
Jane, MPP spearheads ballot initiatives and lobbying campaigns on a state-by-state basis based on the amount of support in that state and how likely it is that it will be successful. This means that even though we are not actively targeting Florida or North Carolina right now, that does not mean we will not in the future if the time is right. Believe me, we want to help reform marijuana laws in every state — if only we had unlimited resources!
Please visit http://www.mpp.org/states/florida and http://www.mpp.org/states/north-carolina to keep up with what is happening legislatively in those states. This Web page also includes links to our online forms you can use to contact your state legislators in support of marijuana policy reform.
Please also visit http://www.mpp.org/takeaction for other ways you can get involved.
I was one of the first patients whose application for a NJ license to obtain medical marijuana was submitted by my duly-registered doctor. He told me there is only 1 dispensary in NJ (way up north, on the border w/NY), and as of right now, no pot to be obtained from that dispensary.
So, I – like all other suffering folks in NJ – will simply have to continue to wait… Hopefully, we won’t all die off before the stuff is actually available for use…