"charged with 'manufacturing' 17 marijuana plants that he used to treat his Multiple Sclerosis. Wilson faced 20 years in state prison for this crime. At trial, Superior Court Judge Robert Reed would not let the jury hear the reason that Wilson grew the marijuana plants, essentially removing Wilson's only defense."
Senator Raymond Lesniak, who was a chief proponent of New Jersey's medical marijuana law, had this appeal to Gov. Chris Christie:
"I am disappointed by the recent decision of the Supreme Court to deny the appeal of John Ray Wilson. He was merely trying to alleviate the symptoms of a dreadfully painful and regressive disease. It is unconscionable that this Friday he will be behind bars. Three years ago, I called on Gov. Corzine to commute the sentence of Mr. Wilson. After inaction with the last governor, I was hopeful Gov. Christie would better understand the unfair reality of this situation. Unfortunately, Gov. Christie has been just like Corzine, refusing to use his and only his power to make things right when the true intentions of the law were misapplied. (Ironically) before John Ray Wilson completes his prison sentence, the State of NJ will have its medical marijuana program up and running, and Mr. Wilson may likely be using medical marijuana behind bars or the prescription pain killers he couldn't afford, paid for by the state's taxpayers. Governor Christie should commute his sentence immediately."
With Christie coming out in support of towns against marijuana dispensaries and farming it, was there any point in him signing the toothless legislation in the summer? He called the legislation he signed, "flawed". Good waste of time by the Legislature and Christie.
The only reason I can figure why it is taking so long to get reasonable medical marijuana production and distribution in New Jersey is that the people in charge are stoned.
If you're around and available today at 10am, I hope you'll tune into Philly's NPR call-in talk show "Radio Times". I'll be the guest for today's first hour, joined my my friend and foe Brian McGovern of SaveJersey.com. The show runs from 10-11am. WHYY can be found at 90.9 on your FM dial, but you can also listen online.
With the election just 17 days away, there's a lot to debate -- pension benefits, NJN RIP, Marriage and marijuana -- and I hope you'll call in to join in the fun. The number is 1-888-477-WHYY
(1-888-477-9499)
Given the havoc wreaked by the financial wizards, the increasing power of corporations, the widening gap between the rich and the rest of us, and the continuing malaise of high unemployment, housing woes, and a depressed economy, it's no wonder that people took to the streets of lower Manhattan this weekend. It was an antidote from the left to the Tea Party protests which have taken advantage of economic discontent. The problem is no different on our side of the Hudson River where conditions also are ripe for protest and a call to action.
Richard Flack, a founder of Students for a Democratic Society, said "Lefts everywhere confront the fundamental problem that they are calling on human beings to realize a potentiality which people, as a result of their everyday experience, do not readily perceive in themselves." Awakening this perception is what the Wall Street event is all about and what we should be about in NJ.
22,439 people were arrested in New Jersey for possessing less than 50 grams* of cannabis in 2009.
FreedomIsGreen.Com, a local blog devoted to advancing more enlightened cannabis policy in New Jersey is reporting an an intriguing new bill on the Assembly docket that would decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana in the Garden State.
The bill, which already has 18 co-sponsors (5 from the GOP) was introduced by Assemblymen Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer) and Michael Patrick Carroll (R-Morris), the same bi-partisan duo that introduced the state's nascent medical marijuana law.
Hot summer streets and the pavements are burning.
I sit around trying to smile but the air is so heavy and dry.
Strange voices are saying things I can't understand.
It's too close for comfort. This heat has got right out of hand. - Bananarama: Cruel Summer
Not at all an upbeat beach song, but then the summer of 2011 does not seem like a Beach Boys moment. Maybe it's just the heat, or maybe it's those strange voices saying things I can't understand.
Our governor just took a two-week vacation, interspersed with wonderful YouTube moments, but left New Jerseyans frazzled by a State Budget in which he not only vetoed critical items but reduced the budget further. I can't understand.
The off-again, on-again Medical Marijuana Program appears to be restarted. After numerous, needless delays, one can only hope the governor will not come up with yet another reason to press the pause button. I can't understand.
In our urban cities "where the pavements are burning," we had to listen to a lecture from our governor on "statutory oversight," before he mentioned he was willing to restore funding. I can't understand.
And then there is this nasty, seemingly interminable, and ever-changing debate over the terms for carrying out the essential step of raising the national debt limit. I can't understand.
I suspect there are perfectly obvious answers to these conundrums, but I'm too frazzled by the heat.
I could walk within a couple miles of my house and my job and be offered pot at little or no risk to myself of getting hurt or arrested. So why is it Chris Christie and the GOP want to make it so hard for a grandma with glaucoma and a prescription to get medicinal marijuana to improve their lives?
For the past year Governor Christie has ignored the will of NJ voters and a bi-partisan majority in the State House and refused to allow the state's medical marijuana plan to proceed.
(State House)--Today in Trenton the Senate Judiciary Committee will meet to confirm (or not...) the Department of Health's new chief commissioner. That role was vacated by Dr. Poonam Aleigh who recently got her head rolled resigned -- supposedly to care for a dying relative. It's unlikely that's the only reason she left considering she's already been shortlisted for a new executive job.
Anyway, Governor Christie has nominated Mary O'Dowd to be the new commish. She happens to be married to Kevin O'Dowd, one of Christie's top legal advisers. Senator Nick Scutari chairs the judiciary committee that will decide Mary O'Dowd's fate today. He's also the primary sponsor of NJ's Medical Marijuana law (that NJ's Health Department is supposed to be overseeing....) Because Senator Scutari is the chairman of this committee, he can pin her down for answers about WTF the medical marijuana law continues to languish. If her answers are evasive or unsatisfying, her appointment could be held up.
Governor Christie, who displays a number of skills including his ability to communicate, is an abject failure as an administrator. It is helpful to be able to talk a good game that impresses certain voters and others living outside our state, but ultimately he sits atop an administration of departments and agencies which provide or fail to provide the services that New Jerseyans seek.
For anyone who's ever wanted to pour their fury at Chris Christie into a live mic with a captive press watching on, this one's totally for you.
I did this video for Millennium Radio where I'm the new Democratic political blogger and commenter. For anyone whos interested that's where I'll be moon-lighting from now on, mostly at their blog State House Steps.
With the New Year almost upon us, below are just few of the many opportunities and ambushes awaiting us:
Anti-Bullying Bill - Governor Christie says he is forthright and decisive, but is neither in this case. If he thinks something should be changed, he should say so with a conditional veto; otherwise he should just sign it.
Medical Marijuana Law - Christie should stop his petulance, get out of the way, and let the Health Department work with patients and advocates to develop sensible regs. We don't need more obstruction. As Sen. Scutari says, We need a "functioning program that actually provides patients relief."
Medicaid Women's Health/Family Planning - We understand part of Christie's base is anti-abortion, but these funds can not be used for abortion. The program puts more deserving people under Medicaid insurance and provides revenue for the state. A "no-brainer," as Sen. Weinberg says.
State Budget - Revenue for the first five months appear to be 3.8% higher than expected. However, even with low inflation there will be upward pressure on the budget - no different from what is happening in other states and less serious than in Illinois and California. The real difference between states is those that act with a social conscience, strive to maintain a safety net, and do not deliberately disadvantage the middle class. The legislature will have to keep Christie in check by maintaining more fairness in the upcoming budget process.
The New Jersey Senate, like the NJ Assembly before it, has sided with ill and suffering New Jerseyans to protect them from an ideologue governor. Today, the full Senate voted to reject Gov. Christie's unnecessarily restrictive rules on NJ's already-conservative medical marijuana law. Christie's going to have to rethink and rewrite how the state will distribute marijuana intended for sick people. He'd better get moving.
Governor Christie's wasting sick people's time. Maybe he should make one less cute video of himself and spend the time working on sensible regulations, and get this done. He's governor of all of New Jersey, not just the people who agree with him, and he is charged to do his job with all New Jersey's laws, not just the ones he likes.
The Marijuana Misstep Governor Christie last week tried to keep in place his flawed medical marijuana regulations and to avoid the embarrassment of a legislative resolution that called for either four changes or a full re-write of the regs. He thought he was being clever in getting Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Trenton), who led passage of the resolution in the Assembly, to join him in a press conference where they jointly announced a compromise that would require only two changes in the unworkable, restrictive regulations. Christie's effort backfired. Sen. Nick Scutari (D-Linden), who sponsored the bill in the Senate and was not part of the compromise plan, says the deal does not eliminate significant hurdles to patients and distributors, as activists widely agree. Senate Democrats on Monday plan a vote on the resolution to force the governor to rewrite the marijuana regs. For more information on Christie's botched program go to this diary.
Threading a Path for Teacher Tenure Reform Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex), as a prelude to drafting a tenure reform bill, held a hearing this week where a Colorado state senator testified that tenure should be a job protection first earned and then maintained over time - not a near guarantee as it has become for teachers in many states, New Jersey included. In the meantime NJEA announced a plan that would allow tenure charge cases to be handled by an arbitrator instead of a state Administrative Law Judge. NJEA's plan does not include lengthening the probationary period before teachers get tenure, providing merit pay for individual teachers, nor linking teacher evaluations to student achievement, which both the governor and the Federal Education Department largely support. Senator Ruiz has a tough balancing act in enacting good legislation that will benefit school children and simultaneously gain acceptance in a partisan, divided atmosphere where the governor not only delights in bullying and name-calling tactics but has such visceral dislike for the NJEA.
.....from a happily chaotic Thanksgiving family week in Los Angeles. Hope you all had a great holiday, and are now enjoying Hanukkah. If you are not lighting the Menorah, make sure you at least eat a couple of potato latkes.
Press Conference at 11 a.m. today in Trenton on government transparency. We will announce our new and very stringent Pay-to-Play bill. This should be part of the "tool kit" because political contributions from state and local contractors definitely add to the cost of government in our state and contribute to our escalating property taxes. This new bill will establish one state-wide standard in New Jersey, and I've been working on it with the help of the Citizens Campaign. I will be joined by my colleague Assemblyman Gordon Johnson. We will also call attention to our newly updated Open Public Meetings Act and Open Public Records Act and will ask that they be posted for Committee hearings in December or January. These bills go hand-in-hand with the new issue-advocacy disclosure bill sponsored by Senator Barbara Buono and me. The passage of these bills together will decrease the cost of government and will increase government transparency. We've been waiting patiently to hear if the Republicans in the legislature and the Governor will join in a bipartisan effort to get these bill passed.
Medical Marijuana "agreement"? I was a little surprised at the news report and look forward to hearing personally from Senator Nick Scutari. Senator Scutari has been an outstanding advocate for this important issue, and if an "agreement" was reached without his input, at the very least I am disappointed. My husband, Irwin, died from cancer almost 12 years ago. We were both deprived of any meaningful communication during his last days with us because he was treated with morphine. Perhaps medical marijuana could have made him comfortable and would have enabled us to share more experiences during those days. Of course, I will never know that for sure. However, what I do know, is that patients and their doctors should have as much right to be treated with medical marijuana as they today have a right to be prescribed morphine or oxycontin or any other controlled dangerous substance to treat pain in terminally ill patients. Is anybody asking a Doc to warn a terminally ill person to substitute another less effective medication for morphine? Is a doctor forced to tell a seriously ill patient that he must wean that patient off oxycontin every three months? How demeaning to both patient and medical professional. Please don't tell me that my good colleague, Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, made a bad deal with the Governor! I guess we'll soon find out.
Will be chairing the Senate Health, Human Services & Senior Services Committee this afternoon. Probably one of my bills which will cause the most comment is the requirement that certified advance practice nurses must continue to be supervised by anesthesiologists in the administration of general anesthesia. Lots of pros and cons on both sides of this issue, and I'm sure we'll hear it all.
So we have a busy December ahead of us with more committee days and another voting session. We'll be dealing with more "tool kit" legislation and another try at women's access to family planning. Every Republican in the Assembly voted "No" or abstained on covering more folks under medicaid for family planning and basic medical care. A bill which will result in $9 for every $1 put up by the State. What is wrong with these folks? What has this Governor given them to make so many of them march in unison while they raise so few questions? It's hard to understand and I must admit, it makes me particularly discouraged about the women of the legislature working together on issues of importance to our families.
Blue Jerseyans & friends Hoernlein, Lento, Parano, Weinberg & Mazza
Hey, a few of us "North Jersey/Blue Jersey" followers, writers and bloggers were invited to join Carol Hoernlein (and Eric) to celebrate a wonderful housewarming in their "tiny house with the big kitchen". Nick Lento, Carol H, Rocco (of "let's draft Rocco" and "I still love the Governor" while "I still love Rocco") Mazza, Dave Parano, Chief Ron Holloway and many others had a lovely afternoon with lots of good company, good food, political talk and we're all connected through Blue Jersey discussions. Great fun for those of us Bergen County types! Great to see Carol looking so well, happy and coming back to our Blue Jersey blogs.
Note to Jay Lassiter & Rosi Efthim: Maybe you can find Keith Chaudruc of Madison who took on the Governor at the Parsippany Town Meeting and get his side of the story for our own Blue Jersey UTube. According to news reports, Mr. Chaudruc was escorted on and off the stage by a state trooper and never got Mr. Christie to answer any of his questions. Might be an interesting interview.
Today is World AIDS Day. Sadly, on account of Governor Chris Christie, folks with HIV/AIDS (plus cancer) won't have legal access to medical marijuana to help manage their treatments.
I hope you'll take a peek at this video and PLEASE pass it around to anyone whose heart might need softening. Because being terminally ill is hard enough without being a criminal to boot.
