My Year in Drug Policy Reform—2006
Ken Wolski, RN, MPA, Executive Director
Coalition for Medical Marijuana—New Jersey

Highlights:

The Coalition for Medical Marijuana—New Jersey (CMM-NJ) held twelve monthly meetings at the Public Library in Lawrence Township, NJ where Board Members and volunteers planned and implemented the following:

• CMM-NJ Board Members spoke at the following events:
• Regional MENSA “Snowball” Meeting in Piscataway, NJ in March;
• Princeton University Chapter of Students for a Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) Meeting in April;
• Cures-Not-Wars Marijuana March in Philadelphia in May;
• NJ State House Press Conference re: Drug Policy Alliance’s (DPA) Medical Marijuana Poll in June;
• New Jersey’s first legislative medical marijuana informational hearing, coordinated by DPA, in June;
• Westlake Golf and Country Club Men’s and Women’s Club Meeting in Jackson, NJ in August;
• Several radio and newspaper interviews regarding above events.
• CMM-NJ Board Members & volunteers manned informational tables at:
• “Relay for Life” in Freehold, NJ in June;
• The College of New Jersey’s Tabling Event in April;
• Hamilton, NJ’s “Septemberfest”;
• Ewing Township, NJ’s “Ewingfest” in Oct.
• CMM-NJ sent a letter to the NJ Senate Health Committee in December in support of the NJ Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act  (S88/A933) that was signed with over 350 names and addresses that were collected at the above events.
• CMM-NJ had two 800-word Op Eds on medical marijuana published in major NJ newspapers, the “Times” of Trenton and the Asbury Park “Press” in April & September.

In addition to my activities with CMM-NJ, I attended the following events:

• “Patients Out of Time” (POT) Conference in Santa Barbara, California in April (and I joined the Board of Advisors of POT in August.)
• Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) “GREAT” Workshop in Clark, NJ and the MPP “Gala” in New York City in June.
• “Nurses in Trenton” lobby day with NJ State Nurses Association in Oct.
• Syringe Exchange legislative hearings at the New Jersey State House and I submitted written testimony in September and October, and I gave oral and written testimony in December.
• The historic legislative vote in December that passed syringe exchange in NJ after a thirteen-year effort by supporters.

In August, I retired from the State of New Jersey after twenty-five years of full time employment in order to devote more time to drug policy reform.

It has been another busy year for drug policy reform in New Jersey.

The highlight of the year came on December 11, 2006 when the New Jersey Senate and Assembly each passed a Needle Exchange Bill: S 494, the "Bloodborne Disease Harm Reduction Act.” Governor Jon Corzine signed the bill into law on December 19, 2006.  Advocates of needle exchange, including the New Jersey State Nurses Association, and other infection control experts have been actively lobbying NJ elected officials on behalf of needle exchange since 1993.  The needle exchange effort in NJ was given a tremendous boost when the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) opened an office in Trenton in 2002.  New Jersey was the last state in the nation to pass legislation to permit either needle exchange programs or the sale of syringes over-the-counter.   Diana McCague of the Chai Project ran an illegal underground needle exchange program in New Brunswick from 1994 until 1998.  She was arrested several times and punished severely for her effort to save lives. It would be a nice gesture to name one of NJ’s first legal needle exchange programs after her.

The major medical marijuana event of the year came when Roseanne Scotti, from the New Jersey office of DPA coordinated the successful New Jersey Senate Informational Hearing on medical marijuana in June. There was great supporting testimony for the NJ Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act  (S88/A933) from Senator Nick Scutari, the bill’s sponsor, Montel Williams of TV fame, Sharon Rainer from the state nurses association, Dr. John Morgan from CUNY, and Don & Gerry McGrath from CMM-NJ.  CMM-NJ also submitted a packet of written testimony from patients unable to attend, as well as copies of our DVD, “Marijuana is Medicine: True stories of illness, treatment and medical rights in New Jersey.”  Paul Armentano, the Senior Policy Analyst from national NORML, submitted written testimony in support of medical marijuana that was hand-delivered to each member of the senate health committee.  The hearings went well but they were hotly contested by White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Deputy Director as well as local opponents.  Nevertheless, a great deal of positive media was generated for the issue by this hearing.  CMM-NJ members were quoted in numerous newspaper articles and on radio and TV stations.  DPA also held a press conference at the NJ State House the day before the hearings.  The press conference announced the latest polling results on medical marijuana in the Garden State. Access to medical marijuana represents the opinion of 86% of New Jersey voters according to (http://www.drugpolicy.org/docUploads/NJMedMJPoll060806.pdf ), a poll by the polling company, inc.  CMM-NJ members Jim Miller and Don & Gerry McGrath spoke at the press conference.

CMM-NJ sent a letter to the Senate Health Committee members urging them to release S 88, the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act from committee for approval by the entire senate.  We included the names and addresses of over 350 medical marijuana supporters in the state.  CMM-NJ resolved to continue to urge that formal hearings on the bill be conducted, so that we can clearly identify which legislators have specific concerns about this bill. Then we can target these legislators and do everything we can to address those concerns.  CMM-NJ remains convinced that science, logic, common sense and compassion all favor medical marijuana, and that the voters of NJ overwhelmingly support medical marijuana.

Ken, Don McGrath and Jim Miller spoke at the Princeton University Terrace Club on 4/21/06.  This event included the first public screening of Jim Incollingo’s documentary, “Marijuana is Medicine: True stories of illness, treatment and medical rights in New Jersey.”  This is the new short version (27 min.) of NJ patients and doctors and nurses who support and/or who have used medical marijuana.  (DVDs are available now through our web site.)  P.U. paid CMM-NJ a  $250 honorarium for the speaking engagement.

Septemberfest on 9/10/06 was one of CMM-NJ's most successful single-day fund raising events. We raised $369 in cash, mostly from the sale of wristbands.  We also sold a few pins and t-shirts.  Approximately 250 people signed our petition in favor of medical marijuana. We handed out a great deal of medical marijuana literature and discussed the issue with many people.  Many thanks to our Board Members and volunteers for their hard work, inc. Jim Miller, Don and Gerry McGrath, Ed Hannaman, Barrie Sutton, Lorraine Koster, and Marie & Mike Micelli.

The “Relay for Life” on June 17, 2006 at Freehold, NJ was very successful.  CMM-NJ sold many of our T-shirts & grossed $350 and about 30 new supporters.

CMM-NJ had a booth at Ewing Community Fest on the campus of TCNJ Sat., 10/7/06; 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM. CMM-NJ received $149 in donations and exactly 100 people signed our petition in support of the “NJ Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act” (S-88 & A-933).

Ken, Lorraine and Sarah tabled about 4 hours at The College of New Jersey on 4/26/06.  We sold about $25 in wristbands and gave away a lot of literature.

Ken & Lorraine marched in Philadelphia at the Million Marijuana March on 5/6/06 with about 40 others.  We carried medical marijuana posters, provided by PhillyNORML, from South St. & Broad to Headhouse Sq.  Ken addressed the post-march rally with a bullhorn.  At the conclusion of the rally, PhillyNORML held a raffle and Ken won two tickets to the 10 PM showing of "The Marijuana-Logues" with Tommy Chong at the Keswick Theater.  The show was a lot of fun.

In Oct. Ken went to the New Jersey State Nurses Association’s “Nurses in Trenton” Day.  He met the Commissioner of the Department of Health (DOH) and discussed syringe exchange programs with him as well as the ability of the DOH to act unimpeded by political considerations during public health emergencies.  Ken also lobbied for medical marijuana with legislators.
 
Treasury report: CMM-NJ has approximately $3000 in our treasury.  (We owe $750 in no-interest loans.)

CMM-NJ welcomed AFSCME’s endorsement of medical marijuana at its national convention in August: http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/448/afscme_endorses_medical_marijuana   AFSCME, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, is the largest union for workers in the public service with 1.4 million members nationwide.  AFSCME represents a diverse group of service and health care workers in the public and private sectors including nurses, EMTs, bus drivers, child care providers, custodians and librarians.  CMM-NJ was thrilled to have AFSCME join the coalition of organizations that support medical marijuana.  This includes the New Jersey State Nurses Association (110,000 RNs), the American Nurses Association (2.7 million RNs), the American Academy of Family Physicians (94,000 members), and the American Public Health Association (50,000 members), among other groups. 

NORML NJ filed a lawsuit in June.  The lawsuit demands that the Commissioner of the NJ Dept. of Health appoint a Therapeutic Research Board to enable a NJ multiple sclerosis patient to engage in clinical trials of medical marijuana as provided by a 1981 NJ law, the Controlled Dangerous Substances Therapeutic Research Act.  In 2004 Ken helped NORML NJ find an appropriate patient to act as plaintiff in this lawsuit.  The Board of CMM-NJ was divided over the value of actively supporting this lawsuit at this time, and so far has taken no action on it.

Ken is a member of several on-line newsgroups devoted to drug policy reform.  He is active in these groups at least every week and almost every day.  He is honored to be a member of ARO, the Association of Reform Organizations, which includes some of the leading drug policy reformers in the nation.

Ken attended the 2006 “Patients Out of Time” (POT) conference in Santa Barbara, California.  It was a wonderful opportunity to review the latest science and politics of medical marijuana, while watching whales and porpoises in the Pacific Ocean through the windows of the conference center at Santa Barbara Community College.  The POT conference brought together the top medical marijuana researchers, scientists, physicians, pharmacologists, and nurses from across the country and from around the world.  This was the premier medical marijuana conference in the world in 2006, and it was approved for continuing education credits for health care professionals.  April in Santa Barbara was also a breath-takingly-beautiful time to tour the local wine country popularized in the film, “Sideways.”  Mary Lynn Mathre, RN invited Ken to join the “Patients Out of Time” Board of Advisors in August.  It was a great honor that was readily accepted.  The next POT conference will be "The Fifth National Clinical Conference on Cannabis Therapeutics" on April 4-5, 2008.  The conference will be held at the Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove, CA.  Save the dates.

Overheard at the 2006 POT conference:
“You’d have to be brain-dead to say it has no medical uses.”
“Cannabinoids kill pre-cancer cells.”
“With PTSD, you walk around with the worst memories—pot helps you forget.”
“It should be the first thing tried—it’s self regulating and non-toxic.”
“It works because it mimics the endogenous cannabinoids.”
“It’s only controversial because nobody wants to know the truth.”
“We know it works.  I’m living proof.  I’m a very healthy disabled person because I have the medicine I need.”
“We should be more concerned about the message we send when we refuse to give a sick person his medicine.”
“We are all just one diagnosis away…”
“Rodney Dangerfield suffered from acute anxiety all his life.  He first smoked pot in 1942 at age 21.  It was the first time he felt relaxed and peaceful.  He continued to smoke pot for 62 years until his death at age 83.  His lungs were OK.  After his final surgery, the surgeon asked him, ‘Are you coughing up much?’  Rodney replied, ‘Just last week I coughed up $500 for a hooker.”
“Pot is a gateway drug—it’s a gateway to a better life.”
“Cannabis is an exit drug, not a gateway.  Where there is free access to cannabis, there is less use of alcohol, cigarettes, inhalants and harder drugs.”
“Approximately 2.5 million Americans face an average of 5.5 years in prison for seeking medical relief with cannabis.”
“Look at the cost-avoidance with medical marijuana—how many people are you not locking up by having this program?  How many hospitalizations, medications and treatment costs are you avoiding?”

CMM-NJ asked the Lawrence Twp. Library for permission to continue to meet on the second Tuesday of each month in 2007, from 7:00 PM until 9:00 PM.  The library approved all dates for 2007, the 2nd Tues. of each month.  Save the dates.
Let’s make 2007 even more productive for drug policy reform in New Jersey.