LIVE-NJ Assembly Committee passes Medical Marijuana!

Chris Goldstein 6/4/09

 The New Jersey Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee passed the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act, forwarding the bill to the full Assembly for a vote this fall.

 The  Senate version passed a floor vote this February.

 The Assembly did offer some substitutions that made some serious changes to the bill that would not serve patients well.

I personally testified on behalf of CMM-NJ and asked that the committee  pass the bill in 2009 without trying to perfect the language. Instead NJ should follow the example of New Mexico. The NM legislation allowed the NM Department of Health to decide the rules on distribution and the registry card system rather than have it defined in the legislation.

Several committee members abstained form voting. The Committee Chairman, Dr. Herb Conaway, showed that he was very well educated on all topics related to medical marijuana. The Chair himself easily countered many of the baseless opposition arguments, including from law enforcement.

Several medical marijuana patients testified before the committee including those suffering from MS, ALS and Chronic Pain.  

Audio from the hearing is available NOW!

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

 For more information please visit www.cmmnj.org