>> 5:30 PM Wednesday, April 20, 2005 -- CMM-NJ and SSDP at PU! >>

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Ken at 609.394.2137
Jim at 609.351.5991
Reona at 631.682.2401

Princeton University student group hosts medical marijuana forum

Students for Sensible Drug Policy invites speakers from CMM-NJ

WHAT:      Panel at Princeton U. to speak on medical marijuana in New Jersey

WHO:        Students, healthcare professional and caregivers to medical marijuana patients

WHEN:      April 20, 2005 at 5:30pm

WHERE:    Terrace Club, 62 Washington Road, Princeton, NJ

Princeton – Students for Sensible Drug Policy, a national group that launched a chapter at Princeton University in February, will host a panel discussion April 20 on the uses of marijuana as medicine and its proposed legalization in New Jersey.

Speakers at the event at Terrace Club, which will be free and open to the public, will advocate the passage of the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act (S2200), a Senate bill sponsored by Nicholas Scutari, D-Linden. The bill was introduced in January.

They will also discuss their experiences caring for loved ones who used marijuana to treat symptoms of multiple sclerosis and cancer chemotherapy, sharing insights on the positive effects of the medicine and the negative effects of its illegality.

A historical perspective on medical marijuana and its recent prohibition will also be presented.  Marijuana was a legal prescription drug in the United States well into the 20^th century.

After their remarks, the speakers will take audience questions.

The panelists, all members of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana - New Jersey, will include Ken Wolski, the organization’s CEO and a registered nurse; Jim Miller, a longtime drug-policy reform activist and husband of late medical marijuana patient Cheryl Miller; and Don McGrath, who cared for his 28-year-old son, a medical marijuana patient, during his fatal struggle with stomach cancer.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy has 133 chapters at colleges and universities across the United States. Its purpose is to question what it describes as an unwinnable drug war that has threatened the freedom, safety and health of the children it claims to protect.

Since its founding at Princeton, the SSDP chapter has screened “Maria Full of Grace,” a recent award-winning film about a young woman drug courier, and “Busted,” an educational primer on dealing with police encounters featuring former ACLU Director Ira Glasser. The group has also hosted a talk by Tony Papa, who was imprisoned under New York’s draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws, and had his sentence commuted after earning two college degrees and becoming a renowned artist during his time behind bars.

The Princeton SSDP chapter is led by Reona Kumagi, a third-year Princeton student and computer science major. “As members of the ‘DARE generation,’ we’re here to announce in clear terms that the drug war has failed, and that persecuting people who need medical marijuana is wrong-headed and mean,” said Kumagi, adding, “We hope the New Jersey legislature will do the right thing and pass the Compassionate Use Act.”

The New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act would make it legal for certified New Jersey patients to use marijuana as medicine under a doctor’s supervision. It would free patients from state criminal penalties if they were diagnosed with a debilitating condition, had a doctor’s recommendation for marijuana and were found eligible by a state review board.

CMM-NJ (www.cmmnj.com) is a grassroots organization formed in 2003 to promote the legalization of marijuana for use by patients with a doctor’s recommendation.