MONTCLAIR — More than two years after New Jersey’s medical marijuana law was passed, state officials have given the go-ahead for the first crop of cannabis to be planted.
Greenleaf Compassion Center, a medical marijuana center in Montclair, has been granted permission to immediately start growing marijuana, a process that will take three to four months for cultivation, the Department of Health and Senior Services said today.
Although Greenleaf officials say they could start planting tomorrow, CEO Joe Stevens said the facility will hold off until it receives more guarantees from the Christie administration about the program’s future.
"My opinion hasn’t really changed. It’s great, and it’s a show of good faith on the department’s side," said Stevens, who has publicly criticized delays with the program. "But what it comes down to is the patients. They still don’t have access and they don’t know when they will have access. It’s still meaningless to me, to be growing marijuana for patients who don’t have access."
Greenleaf, the first of six alternative treatment centers to find a location, also becomes the first to receive a preliminary permit to cultivate.
Then-Gov. Jon Corzine signed New Jersey’s Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act on Jan. 18, 2010, his last day in office. Yet no centers are operating and not one patient has received access to the drug. For patients to receive marijuana, they must have a qualifying debilitating condition, such as Multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease or terminal cancer, among others.
But Greenleaf officials, who have not disclosed the location of their grow facility, cannot dispense marijuana until they’re granted a final permit by the health department.
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The preliminary permit comes less than a month after Stevens sent a heated letter to Gov. Chris Christie and health department officials, alleging they had tried to sabotage the program.
Stevens also threatened to quit, citing the state’s failed promises while his group had racked up more than $160,000 in expenses. Even with today’s announcement, Stevens said he’s uncertain whether he’ll stay on as the head of Greenleaf.
He said he still has questions, such as what would happen if his group harvested the marijuana but the health department wasn’t ready to issue a final permit or launch the program for patients.
"We could store the medication," he said. "But how long would we have to do that for?"
His group has a meeting with state officials scheduled for next week to further discuss the program’s future, he said.
Stevens said his group had yet not reviewed a copy of the preliminary permit.
In March 2011, the health department announced the "licensing" of six alternative treatment centers, but later backed off, saying the centers had not actually been approved.
A series of stories in The Star-Ledger last fall chronicled problems with the program, including delays, mismanagement and lack of vetting among the dispensaries. In late November, Christie tapped retired State Police Lt. John O’Brien Jr. to oversee the program. The centers were then required to submit extensive paperwork for a more thorough backgrounding process.
Today, the health department also published a long-awaited list of more than 100 physicians authorized to recommend the drug. Advocates had criticized the failure to publish the list, citing the need for patients to know what doctors were enrolled in the program.
"New Jersey’s Medicinal Marijuana Program is based on a medical-model which requires physicians and qualified patients to have an ongoing relationship," Dr. Arturo Brito, deputy commissioner for public health services, in the health department’s release. "Physicians will have to monitor patients on medicinal marijuana as part of managing their medical condition."
The patient registry is near completion and on track to open in a few weeks, according to the health department release.
Like Stevens, Ken Wolski, head of New Jersey’s Coalition for Medical Marijuana, reacted cooly to today’s announcement, which came after a flurry of public complaints, including recent litigation filed over the program.
"From a patient advocate statement, we’re pretty skeptical of these announcements from the health department," Wolski said. "It’s the appearance of progress rather than actual progress."
Two weeks ago, a patient and a doctor filed a lawsuit in Superior Court in Trenton claiming the health department has caused undue suffering to patients across the state by failing to get the program up and running.
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