A group formed to provide information about New Jersey’s new medical marijuana law will meet on the first Wednesday of each month at the Sussex-Wantage Library from 7 to 8 p.m. The first meeting was held Oct. 6.
The group, called North Jersey Compassionate Care, is a not for profit organization incorporated this past April. According to a press release from the organization, it is “focused on medical marijuana patient education, advocacy and activism.”
It also wants to be among the first authorized to dispense medical marijuana.
The Medical Marijuana Act was signed into law last January by then-Gov. Jon Corzine and was to be implemented by July. However, according to North Jersey Compassionate Care, implementation has been put on hold by Gov. Chris Christie, “citing concerns about state employees breaking federal law.”
The state’s Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) was designated as the department regulating the implementation of the new law.
To help clear the air about the purpose and use of the law, and to “help pressure the Department of Health and the governor to implement the program” the North Jersey group protested at the main DHSS building in Trenton each Wednesday in September.
When the medical marijuana law is fully implemented, North Jersey Compassionate Care wants to be among the first six to receive a Not for Profit Medical Marijuana Alternative Treatment Center (ATC) permit to legally grow and dispense medical marijuana to qualifying patients.
The group says if it is successful, by January 2011, “our organization will be providing a comprehensive array of alternative treatments as well as safe and effective medical marijuana to the residents of Sussex County.”
