Emotion filled the State House Annex Committee Room on Monday November 8th, as a host of people suffering from various chronic illnesses appealed to the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee, providing personal testimonies of the pain relief and symptom management that marijuana provides. Though a variety of diseases were represented, the patients had a common factor among them: they were all willing to implicate themselves of the illegal use of marijuana in hopes that the NJ law that has been signed since January 2010 finally be enacted. The legislation allows patients diagnosed with such severe illnesses as AIDS, cancer, Lou Gehrigs Disease, muscular dystrophy, and multiple sclerosis, to have access to marijuana grown through state-monitored dispensaries. Although many pharmaceutical pain and symptom management medications exist and are legal and readily accessible, the effect on quality of life is what seems to make marijuana the alternative of choice, even in the face of it being stigmatized as a “gateway drug”. Commonly prescribed opiates, like morphine and oxycontin, relieve pain but they also render the user lethargic and disoriented. Marijuana is said to have a more beneficial effect, providing pain relief, while leaving functionality intact. It also increases hunger, which is a major benefit for those who experience nausea and loss of appetite due to the side effects of medications and other complications of chronic illness. Jay Lassiter, 38, of Cherry Hill spoke of his experience of living with HIV and using marijuana as a way of managing the side-effects of his anti-retroviral therapy. "I was a criminal yesterday, and as long as this is in limbo, that's just a choice I have to make," he said. Detractors of the law were in attendance as well, and held the view that such a law might encourage recreational drug use. Candice Singer, of the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence, stated that it is important to have strict limits. Despite the fact that both views were represented, support for a more accessible and user friendly marijuana law was overwhelming.
Over the last 9 months, the law that was signed by former Governor John Corzine before leaving office has been mired in the controversy and bureaucracy of current Governor Chris Christie’s draft regulations of the Medical Marijuana Program, who boldly stated that he would not have signed the bill if he was governor when it was passed. (See draft regulations: http://www.nj.gov/health/draft_mm.pdf) Upon its signing, New Jersey became the 14th State in the nation to legalize marijuana for medical uses. It also preliminarily became the only state to present such restrictive rules in regards to accessibility for patients and unattractive restrictions on physicians and those who want to apply to open one of the six proposed dispensaries. These regulations present new restrictions that are not included in the law, and prompted Senator Nicholas Scutari to introduce a resolution to the Senate Committee and the Assembly that, if successful, would force the re-evaluation of the regulations for the Medical Marijuana Program.
Since the November 8th meeting, the resolutions supporting Medical Marijuana have passed and Governor Christie’s Administration has 30 days to rewrite the rules. These changes will surely impact disease management as we know it, particularly that of HIV/AIDS. In a time when anti-retroviral therapy has proven to extend life, it does not come with out it complications. Often times those who are living with HIV/AIDS and are on medication have to craft a quality of life between bouts of nausea, diarrhea, neuropathy, and appetite loss. Not being able to do so greatly affects self-care, mental and emotional health, employment and earning potential, just to name a few life factors. There are many people who manage well using tools that are legal and readily available, and there are those who choose marijuana use despite its current stigma and social repercussions. Whatever the case, fairness in access is a right that everyone should have.
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