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As New Jersey’s Governor Chris Christie continues to stonewall, delay and deny voter-approved medical marijuana legislation, women like Irvina Baker go without alternative treatments to serious illnesses. This New York Times piece is an excellent example of how our elected officials decide how laws will or will not be implemented, based on their own political agenda, and not the will of the people.

Irvina Booker makes a most unlikely criminal. She lives in constant pain, disabled by multiple sclerosis and arthritis, a grandmother whose limited mobility depends on her walker, her daughter and marijuana.

Irvina Booker at her home in Englewood, N.J. She expressed frustration about the lack of access to medical marijuana.

“I never smoked it before I got sick, and I don’t smoke it for fun,” said Ms. Booker, 59, who lives in Englewood, N.J. She would not divulge how she obtains her marijuana, but said, “I don’t want to be sneaking around, afraid someone is going to get arrested getting it for me.”

Like many people who contend that marijuana eases pain and appetite loss from serious diseases, Ms. Booker cheered in January 2010, when New Jersey legalized its use in cases like hers. But a year and a half later, there is still no state-sanctioned marijuana available for patients, and none being grown, and there is no sign of when there might be.

In the last few months, officials in New Jersey, as well as several other states, have said that mixed signals from the Obama administration have left them unsure whether their medical marijuana programs could draw federal prosecution of the people involved, including state employees.

A Justice Department memorandum issued late last month left unanswered questions, and Gov. Chris Christie has not said how he will proceed. But medical marijuana advocates say that in New Jersey, at least, the state law is stringent enough not to run afoul of federal policy, and that the governor’s true goal has been to block the program.

“You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure that out,” said State Senator Nicholas P. Scutari, a Democrat. “He’s used every tactic he can to delay and deny.”

The governor, a Republican, and his aides have insisted that every delay has been a genuine attempt to make the program work properly.

“In light of the Obama administration’s memorandum, the governor’s office is performing its due diligence to ensure implementation of the program is not in conflict with federal law and does not put state employees charged with directing the program at risk,” Kevin Roberts, a spokesman for Mr. Christie, said.

Read more.

On March 21, 2011 New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) announced the winning applications for the medical marijuana Alternative Treatment Centers (ATCs) in the Garden State. Twenty-one applicants submitted exhaustive business plans along with a $20,000 filing fee.

The non-profit’s are:
· Breakwater Alternative Treatment Center, Corp., Ocean, Central Region; The ATC would be located in Manalapan, Monmouth County.

· Compassionate Care Centers of America Foundation Inc. (CCCAF), Jersey City, Central Region; The ATC would be located in New Brunswick, Middlesex County.

· Compassionate Care Foundation Inc., West Trenton, Southern Region; The ATC would be located in Bellmawr, Camden County.

· Compassionate Sciences, Inc. ATC, Sea Cliff, NY, Southern Region; The location of the ATC is undetermined, but will be located in either Burlington or Camden County.

· Foundation Harmony, Cliffside Park, Northern Region; The ATC would be in Secaucus, Hudson County.

· Greenleaf Compassion Center, Montclair, Northern Region; The ATC would be in Montclair, Essex County.

However the regulations governing the facilities have not been finalized and remain in a hard-fought Legislative dispute.

Ken Wolski the executive director of The Coalition for Medical Marijuana-New Jersey (CMMNJ) said,

“We certainly wish the successful applicants luck because patients need legal marijuana as soon as possible.   However, we have serious doubts that these non-profit organizations will be able to develop a working program with the overly restrictive regulations proposed by DHSS.  CMMNJ still supports the legislative Resolution to invalidate significant parts of the DHSS regulations.”

Read the full press release from NJ DHSS here: http://www.state.nj.us/cgi-bin/dhss/njnewsline/view_article.pl?id=3681

4/13/2011 – Documents from the application process in New Jersey for the medical marijuana Alternative Treatment Centers are being released. The Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey (CMMNJ) and Freedomisgreen.com acquired the six applications that were approved.They are posted online for public download here: http://www.scribd.com/NJcannabisDocs

Requests for the information were filed through the Open Public Records Act (OPRA) with the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS).

DHSS officials said that the scoring and review documents from the application process are being released later today. The additional twenty-five unapproved applications are expected later this week.

CMMNJ and Freedomisgreen.com will continue to post the documents online for public review.

Officials may announce the winning applications for the medical marijuana Alternative Treatment Centers  (ATCs) in the Garden State today. The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) confirmed in an email that they would release a statement.

More than 20 applicants submitted exhaustive business plans along with a $20,000 filing fee. But the regulations governing the ATC facilities have not been finalized and remain in a Legislative dispute. Potential non-profits have stated that they would find it nearly impossible to operate under the current proposed rules, even if the state does give them a green light.

Read more: NJ Health Commissioner treats medical marijuana patient

John Ray Wilson in 2010

10/6/2011 – John Ray Wilson has been granted bail by the New Jersey Appellate Division pending his final appeal to the State Supreme Court. Although the New Jersey Deputy Attorney General Russell Curley requested $150,000 cash, the judge set $15,000 and allowed a posting of 10 percent.

His family moved quickly to secure Wilson’s release. In a phone call this week John said he was glad to be home, “My grandma needs a lot of help right now, so at least I can be there for her.”

In January 2010, just as the NJ medical marijuana law was passed, Wilson was convicted of growing 17 cannabis plants. Wilson lives with multiple sclerosis and without health insurance. He has always maintained that the marijuana was cultivated for his personal medical use.

This is the second time that Wilson has been incarcerated and bonded out as his case continues through the courts.

MS is one of the few recognized medical conditions under the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act. Cannabis treats muscle spasticity in MS patients and been shown to slow the progression of the disease.

New Jersey’s medical marijuana program remains in trouble. Delays and added restrictions imposed by Governor Chris Christie have kept state-sanctioned cannabis from being grown or distributed. Patients with qualifying conditions have only the illegal, underground market for access.

Wilson may not use cannabis while on bail and has gone back to using bee-sting therapy.

The NJ Appellate Division ruled that “manufacturing” marijuana can never be considered for personal use (medical or otherwise).

Legal observers note that granting bail may hint that the state’s highest court may take up the case.

“We think that the appellate decision is misguided,” said Wilson’s attorney William Buckman, “we are hoping that the Supreme Court will set the record straight that New Jersey doesn’t want to put sick people or simple individual marijuana users into prison at the cost of $35,000 a year.”

As part of an ongoing monthly series, we’ll explore the great big world of herbs in general.

As you know, marijuana has numerous medicinal properties. And many of you are probably already hip to the other herbs out there that possess their own special healing and protective properties.

What you may not know is that herbs possess a more concentrated amount of antioxidants than you’ll get from fruits and vegetables alone. Not only that, but herbs often possess a wider array of antioxidants. So by integrating herbs into your diet, you are protecting your body from free radical damage in a substantial way.

The way I see it: if marijuana is part of a holistic lifestyle choice, then that lifestyle should include any ways we can return to nature as a method to heal and protect ourselves.

 

This week, the spotlight is on thyme.

Thymus vulgaris grows as a small, woody shrub with petite and flavorful gray-green leaves. There are up to 400 subspecies of thyme; common thyme and Spanish thyme are often used interchangeably for medicinal purposes. Thymol is the primary volatile oil constituent of thyme. It’s powerful health-supporting effects continue to unfold, after centuries of use.

 

Health Properties:

• A study at the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Milan in Italy has concluded that thymol has the ability to interfere with the formation of candida, a yeast that lives in your gut. (Candida can result in a serious condition called candidiasis, which causes a range of symptoms including chronic fatigue, thrush, abdominal bloating, depression and irritable bowel syndrome. Candida has reached epidemic proportions because of the large amounts of sugar and refined carbohydrates we typically consume.)

• In studies on aging in rats, thymol has been found to protect and significantly increase the percentage of healthy fats found in cell structures. In particular, the amount of DHA (an omega-3 fatty acid) in brain, kidney, and heart cell membranes was increased after supplementation with thyme.

• Thyme contains a variety of flavonoids (antioxidants found naturally in plants), increasing thyme’s antioxidant capacity. Combined with its status as a substantial source of manganese, thyme places very high on the list of antioxidant foods.

• The volatile oil components of thyme have also been shown to have antimicrobial activity against a host of different bacteria and fungi. Staphalococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli and Shigella sonnei are a few of the species against which thyme has been shown to have antibacterial activity.

• Thyme possesses expectorant and bronchial antispasmodic properties, making it useful in the treatment of acute and chronic bronchitis, whooping cough, and inflammation of the upper respiratory tract.

• A preliminary in-vitro study has determined the effectiveness of thymol, and other oil extracts in treating onychomycosis, the fungal infection of toe and fingernails.

• The vapors of essential oil of thyme and thymol have exhibited suppressive activity on molds from damp buildings and can be used for disinfection of moldy walls.

• Carvacrol, p-cymene, linalool, alpha-terpinene, and thymol are all ingredients derived from the essential oil of thyme and have been studied for their mosquito repellent properties (equal to, or more so, than commercial repellents).

Cooking with Thyme:

Restaurant critic Jeff Cox, a gardening and cooking guru, says if you have only one pot to use for an herb planting, plant thyme. And it’s one of the easier herbs to grow. (Trust me, I just look at plants and they wilt and die.)

Thyme, either dried or fresh, should be added near the end of the cooking process since heat can easily cause a loss of its delicate flavor.

Thyme can enhance the taste of:

• Pasta sauce
• Egg dishes
• Bean dishes
• Poached fish (place sprigs of thyme in the liquid)
• Soups and stocks
• Butters and mayonnaise

Random Facts about Thyme:

The Ancient Egyptians used thymol and carvacrol because of their ability to preserve mummies. Thymol and carvacrol are now known to kill bacteria and fungi, making thyme well suited for such purposes. (So if mummification is in your future, don’t forget thymol. Your mummy will remain fresh and clean.)

Thymol and carvacrol are extensively used in book binding because of its ability to kill spores in the books which needed to be rebound after damage from mold.

The English word “thyme” comes from the Latin thymus, derived from the Greek thymon, “courage.” It also means “to fumigate or cleanse”, possibly because of its use as an incense throughout time.

A soup recipe of 1663 recorded the use of thyme and beer to overcome shyness.

Scottish highlanders drank tea made of wild thyme for strength and courage and also to prevent nightmares.

Thymol, one of the active ingredients in thyme leaves, is still used in cough preparations.

Thyme tea can be used as a digestive tonic, for hangovers, and as an acne wash. (Good for partying teens with sensitive stomachs.)

Thymol was used as a powerful antiseptic chemical in World War I to disinfect battlefield wounds.

Thymol is one of the ingredients in the antibacterial Listerine mouthwash.

Thyme may have the ability to attract fairies. (Now that’s a real added bonus, in my opinion.)

Just as sage is often used, thyme can been burned to cleanse the air and ward off evil spirits.

Interactions:

Do not use thyme essential oil internally. For instructions on how to use thyme for medical conditions, read here.

Theoretically, thyme may decrease levels of thyroid hormone. Patients taking thyroid replacement therapy or anti-thyroid agents should use cautiously. Monitoring may be necessary.

Although not well studied in humans, thyme may interact with agents with estrogen or progesterone receptor activity. Examples of agents that may be affected include hormone replacement therapies and birth control pills.

Topical (applied on the skin) thymol may increase the absorption of 5-fluorouracil. Caution is advised in chemotherapy patients, as 5-fluorouracil is often used in cancer chemotherapy. Consult with a qualified healthcare professional, including a pharmacist, to check for interactions.

Although not well studied in humans, thyme may interact with herbs with estrogen or progesterone receptor activity. Caution is advised when combining thyme with other herbs and supplements with proposed hormonal effects, such as black cohosh.

Sources:

Sunland Herbs

Antioxidants for Health and Longevity

Integrative Practitioner

Vegetarian Nutrition Info

Health-Herbal.com

Healthier-Life.com

Beth Mann is a popular blogger and writer for Open Salon and Salon. She is also an accomplished actor and director with over 15 years of experience, as well as the president of Hot Buttered Media. She currently resides at the Jersey shore where she can often be seen surfing or singing karaoke at a local dive bar.

Contact: maryjane {at } freedomisgreen.com

UPDATE from Americans for Safe Access:

“The Maryland State Senate voted 41-6 to pass a bill today that would give an affirmative defense to qualified patients who are arrested and prosecuted for possessing or growing medical marijuana. Senate Bill 308 amends the 2003 Darrel Putnam Compassionate Use Act, which already allows for a “medical necessity” defense but still results in a misdemeanor conviction and a $100 fine. The new Senate legislation would keep patients with “clear and convincing evidence” from being convicted and from sustaining a punitive fine.

SB 308 was amended earlier this month when its House companion bill stalled in committee due to opposition from the new administration’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH). Both houses of the state legislature were prepared to pass a comprehensive bill this year that would have protected patients from arrest and prosecution altogether, and would have established a state-run production and distribution system. However, the new DHMH Director estimated the cost of such a program at more than $7 million over a 5-year period, despite a fiscal impact assessment of less than 1/10th of that amount for an almost identical bill debated last year. Advocates called this year’s fiscal impact extremely inflated, based on an inaccurate needs assessment.

“Rather than endure another failed attempt to pass meaningful medical marijuana policy in Maryland, patients have instead decided to support this stopgap measure,” said Caren Woodson, Government Affairs Director with Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the country’s largest medical marijuana advocacy group. “It’s not ideal, but the bill will help patients avoid what is now a guaranteed conviction if arrested.” ASA worked with State Senator Jamie Raskin (D-Montgomery County) to craft the amended version of SB 308, which also includes language to study the elements of a comprehensive policy change with the aim of passing such legislation next year.

SB 308 will now proceed to the House of Delegates for a floor vote and, if passed, will then go to Governor O’Malley for signature. Patient advocates have vowed to pass more comprehensive legislation next year by working with DHMH and the legislature to design a policy that not only protects patients from arrest and prosecution, but also establishes a system of licensed cultivation and distribution.”

Further information:
Text of SB 308: http://AmericansForSafeAccess.org/downloads/Maryland_SB308_Amended.pdf

Maryland is moving on bills that would legalize medical marijuana for ill residents and decriminalize possession for all adults. Both had committee hearings scheduled on March 3.

HB 291/ SB 308, the medical cannabis legislation is sponsored by Dan Morhaim, the only licensed physician in the MD Assembly.

But in a battle of the doctors current Secretary of Maryland’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH), Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein,  voiced concerns over using cannabis as medicine.

“This is not just because marijuana is a controlled substance. It is also because marijuana, unlike approved pharmaceuticals, has not been characterized, studied, and determined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to be safe and effective.”

In late February, the Maryland General Assembly also held a hearing for a bill to decriminalize the personal possession of small amounts of cannabis by adults.

HB 606 would reduce punishment for  small amount of pot to a civil citation and a nominal fine. Currently Maryland prosecutes possession of any amount as a criminal misdemeanor.

Phillip Strause, a marijuana activist local to Maryland and Virginia had this to say about HB291,

“The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene requested to work with Delegate Morhaim to ‘craft a better bill.’ The bill is currently not scheduled to be voted on for this reason. I believe political fear drives the system in MD, as few are willing to condone such a shift in policy.”

He added, “HB 606 has been heard in committee but has yet to be voted upon. I feel this is an excellent step in the correct direction but insufficient in fixing the heart of the problem, the perception that cannabis is more dangerous than it actually is.”

Ken Wolski, the Executive Director of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana—New Jersey (CMMNJ) submitted supporting testimony for MD through Americans for Safe Access saying,

“The Maryland bill closely resembles the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act that passed into law in January 2010 in the Garden State. Over one year since the NJ law passed, not a single patient has yet received legal medical marijuana in  state; there is not a single dispensary even close to opening; and not a single, legal, marijuana plant is even growing in this state.

Maryland needs to propose a bill that has at least some chance of actually getting marijuana to qualified patients. A provision for home cultivation is really the only way to guarantee this, as New Jersey’s experience proves.”

Read – Health chiefs in NJ and MD fight marijuana as ‘medicine’

Find out more about the efforts in The Free State:  http://www.mpp.org/states/maryland/

Diane Fornbacher has been a cannabis law reform activist for 15 years. She has worked with some of the top reform organizations (NORML, Drug Policy Alliance, ASA, The November Coalition). Fornbacher is the current Vice Chair of the NORML Women’s Alliance and serves on the board of The Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey (CMMNJ). When she isn’t working to change the cannabis laws, she enjoys photography and writing/performing poetry.  Contact grassroots {at} freedomisgreen.com

Legislation is active in the Bay State to legalize and regulate medical marijuana through 18 distribution centers. A non-binding referendum last year regarding medical cannabis showed overwhelming support among voters.

The sponsoring legislator told the Boston Herald:

“Since the 1930s, we’ve been fighting marijuana as the killer weed, and that has to stop,” said state Rep. Frank I. Smizik, a Brookline Democrat championing the bipartisan bill. “There are so many people suffering with serious diseases where marijuana is the only way to stop the pain and keep them going.” Read full

A lot of new territory is opening up on the East Coast for the medical marijuana industry. Maine, Rhode Island, New Jersey and Washington DC are all currently in the process of approving medical marijuana production and distribution facilities.

Massachusetts made news in 2008 when voters decriminalized minor marijuana possession for adults. Those caught with small amounts of cannabis are currently issued a non-criminal ticket and are not arrested.

More info: http://masscann.org

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Medical Cannabis helps ALS patient outlive her own doctors

Last month, Cathy Jordan sat on a panel at the Cannabis Therapeutics Conference in Arizona.  Before taking the stage, she discussed the medical use of cannabis for ALS with Jahan Marcu, the Science Editor at Freedom is Green.

Cathy Jordan first noticed something was wrong in summer of 1985 when she couldn’t pick things up. Her muscles weren’t responding. In 1986, she was diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis). ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is characterized by the death of motor neurons leading to loss of limb control, breathing, swallowing, speech and widespread cellular dysfunction. Most cases of ALS are sporadic; it is not a viral or autoimmune disease.

“Most people start using a feeding tube because they are afraid of choking to death”, says Cathy.

In 1986, she was given 3 – 5 years to live according to her neurologi st. Nearly 3 decades later, she is still alive and living with ALS.

“All my docs are retiring or dead. I’ve outlived 5 support groups and 4 neurologists,” said Cathy. This actually posed a problem for Cathy who lost her social security benefits because she lived passed her expiration date. The state of Florida said her ID and regular documentation wasn’t good enough to prove she was alive and to continue to receive benefits. She had to ask her neurologist to fill out paperwork to prove she was still alive.

Mrs. Jordan began using Cannabis from a Florida grower to treat her ALS in the late 80’s. “Donny Clark provided my medicine, grown in the Myakka River Valley…he was busted and sentenced to life in prison, and that strain of Cannabis was lost.

“You know, they say the fountain of youth is in Florida. Maybe it was something in the soil that made this plant helps me…and I don’t understand why doctors wouldn’t study me. But I still would like to know why this is helping me.”

At first, doctors wouldn’t accept Cathy’s that marijuana could be responsible for her extended life span. Other doctors thought that smoking anything would impair her lung function and even threatened to have this paralyzed women committed, simply based on the fact that she thought Cannabis was actually helping her.

“I visited a neurologist at Duke University. When I told him that I was smoking Cannabis, he didn’t know what to do with me. He was afraid. He wouldn’t even take my blood pressure because I was using an illegal drug.”

Cathy adds:

“I asked my docs if they would take a drug if it was neuroprotective, an antioxidant and an anti-inflammatory. They say ‘yes’ and ask me if I know of one. Cannabis, I tell them.”

Nearly three decades later, the science has caught up with this miracle patient. Scientists created a mouse with ALS, which was very exciting for Cathy. Research has shown that THC and other cannabinoids can benefit mice with ALS. The mounting evidence of cannabinoids halting the progression of ALS has started to change the attitudes of doctors and prominent researchers have recently called for ALS clinical trials with Cannabis or cannabinoids.

“They all agree today that I should smoke Cannabis,” says Cathy. Twenty six years later, my original neurologist fought [successfully] to make sure Cannabis is legal for patients in Delaware.”

Researchers think Cannabis may help ALS patients relieving pain, spasticity, drooling, appetite loss and has minimal drug-drug interactions and toxicity.

“There are ALS patients associations that fight for the right of patients to die with dignity. But what about my right to life?” asks Cathy. “Keeping my medicine illegal removes my right to life.”

Video: Tucson AZ – The Use of Cannabis for ALS – Jahan Marcu & Cathy Jordan

Jahan Marcu is currently investigating the pharmacology of cannabinoid receptors. He was working at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute when exciting discoveries were made showing enhanced anti-cancer effects with THC and CBD from the Cannabis plant. The findings were published in the Journal of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. In 2009 he received the Billy Martin Award from the International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS). Jahan is currently the vice-chair the Medical and Scientific Advisory Board at Americans for Safe Access (ASA). Questions?   Contact   [email protected]

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent any University, business or affiliates. While the information provided in this blog is from published scientific studies it is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease.