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An unidentified worker, who dispensary executives refused to identify, trims marijuana plants inside the sprawling Garden State Dispensary, New Jersey's third medical marijuana clinic, which opened on Dec. 4, 2013 on Rt. 1 in Woodbridge.

(Andrew Mills/The Star-Ledger)

Gov. Chris Christie has never concealed his disdain for the state law allowing patients who meet strictly defined specifications to obtain doctor-prescribed marijuana to ease their symptoms. It was signed by his detested 2009 election opponent, Gov. Jon Corzine, and it pushes some of Christie's most sensitive right-wing, law-and-order buttons.

In implementing the statute, his administration dragged its feet for four years.

Today, despite strong demand, only three of the minimum of six privately run “alternative treatment centers” authorized by the law to dispense marijuana are operating, in Montclair, Woodbridge and Egg Harbor. In addition, the governor, on his own, imposed a number of restrictions, inconveniences and costs on the dispensaries and their patients.

Last year, Christie objected to allowing children, such as 2½-year-old Vivian Wilson of Scotch Plains, to take part in the program. Vivian has a form of epilepsy with frequent and prolonged seizures that can be eased by a strain of marijuana processed in an edible form that children can tolerate.

But after her father, Brian, confronted the governor on the campaign trail last year with the plea, “Don’t let my daughter die,” Christie signed a bill authorizing the dispensaries to sell edible products.

However, another problem quickly emerged for Vivian, her parents, and other families dealing with the same ailment. The marijuana that’s needed, called “Charlotte’s Web,” is rich in cannabidiol, or CBD, the ingredient that helps control seizures in children, and low in THC, the part of the plant that gets a user stoned.

It’s grown and sold only at a Colorado Springs dispensary, and New Jersey law bars the Wilsons from obtaining the medication from an out-of-state source.

In response, Assembly members headed by Linda Stender (D-Union), and including Reed Gusciora (D-Trenton), a prime sponsor of the original medical marijuana bill that Corzine signed, wrote a new bill (A4537) that would allow registered patients and their caregivers to buy the medication in states where it’s legal and bring it home.

The Assembly passed it by a bipartisan vote last November. But Christie quickly served notice that the Senate would be wasting its time if it followed suit and sent him the bill, which he pronounced part of a pot plot to legalize the stuff for everyone.

“See, this is what happens,” he told reporters. “Every time you sign one expansion, then the advocates will come back and ask for another one. Here’s what the advocates want: They want legalization of marijuana in New Jersey. It will not happen on my watch, ever. I am done expanding the medical marijuana program under any circumstances.”

The Senate hasn’t acted on the legislation, and the bill will expire with the end of the current legislative session tomorrow and will have to be reintroduced in the new session.

Meanwhile, the Wilsons have announced plans to move to Colorado with Vivian and their other daughter, aided by a gift of $10,000 for expenses from a Washington state company that manufactures cannabis-infused edible products.

Roseanne Scotti, director of Drug Policy Alliance New Jersey and a longtime lobbyist for drug-law reform, says other changes in the state’s policies are needed as well.

The immediate need, she said, is for the Department of Health, which administers the program, to push for the additional treatment centers that could help meet the overall demand — and open more opportunities for development and processing of strains of marijuana that are helpful to children.

The department has licensed three additional facilities, one to be in Bellmawr, the other two for undetermined locations, but there’s no indication when or if they will open.

"There's need for more access," Scotti said. "If those licensees can't get up and running, the state should give the licenses to someone else.

"The law allows a minimum of six treatment centers in the state, but we need more than the minimum. Imagine if there were only six pharmacies in all of New Jersey to meet people's medical needs! We'd also love to see the application process opened up to those seeking to open treatment centers for profit. Being a nonprofit obviously can be a real problem when you're trying to raise money for a new business."

As for the bill allowing out-of-state purchases that is about to expire without Senate action, Scotti will urge the new Legislature to re-enact it and send it to Christie, in spite of his vow to have nothing to do with any additional medical marijuana refinements.

“I’m a great one never to give up hope,” she said. “You get it onto the governor’s desk” — she left the sentence unfinished. Then she added: “I always think that the right thing to do is just keep moving forward. Keep the conversation going.”

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