As the medical community, many States in our nation, and individuals and physicians all over the world have come to learn, there are over 200 benefits associated with medical cannabis. 

Certain patients, however, don’t like smoke or vaporizers, and prefer a more “healthy” method of ingesting their medicine. Other patients – such as individuals suffering with terminal diseases and/or painful, life-threatening conditions – are unable to ingest medical marijuana by means other than ingesting a medical, edible item (a “medible”).

In order to receive the medical benefits associated with their medical-marijuana prescriptions, these “qualified” patients must be able to ingest medical marijuana medible items through edible means.  Because medical-marijuana is somewhat course (even after cooked) and doesn’t taste great, a great way to create a “medible” for a patient is by cooking medical marijuana into a butter (which releases the THC in the medicine), and then using this medical-marijuana butter (often termed Canna-Butter for cannabis butter) in the respective recipe. Just substitute the Medical-Marijuana Butter where the recipe calls for regular butter and, WHALAH: medical-marijuana cookies, brownies, banana bread and oatmeal squares, just to name a few . . .

In addition, all individuals must always first speak with a licensed physician before beginning any medical treatment or taking any medicine or prescription, by edible means or otherwise. The ingestion of medical-marijuana through edible means can have often have a very different effect on a patient in terms of when the patient first feels the effects (there is often a delay in feeling the effects with medible ingestion) and/or how strong the medicine “feels” to the patient. Thus, patients who ingest medical-marijuana based edible-items should always start with less medicine (as opposed to more) – because those effects may not be felt for up to an hour, or more. Doctor’s are aware of these effects and thus should always be consulted.

Set forth below are very easy instructions for the preparation of INSTANT MEDICAL MARIJUANA BUTTER to be used in various recipes (It works real good J).  [Please also note: Medical-Marijuana Butter (Canna-Butter) lasts about 1 week in the refrigerator, and can also be stored in the freezer and properly last for 1-2 months.]

ITEMS REQUIRED:

(1)          Delicious “Medible” Recipe (using butter)

(2)          Butter, unsalted (2 CUPS)

(3)          Medical Marijuana, Ground Up (1/2 OZ)

(4)          Strainer and a large coffee filter

(5)          Sauce Pan

(6)          Non-Plastic Bowl

(7)          Large, sturdy wooden spoon

(8)          Cake-Batter Scraper

(9)          H2o

(10)       Stove-Top

8 QUICK STEPS TO “INSTANT” MEDICAL-BUTTER

1. 1. STEP ONE

Ground up approximately one-half ounce of medical-marijuana, as finely as possible. (depending on your prescription; always first consult your physician before engaging in any medical treatment or taking any medicine)

1. 2. STEP TWO

Put ½ lb. (2 cups, or 2 sticks) of unsalted butter in a Pan on the stovetop.  Turn the stovetop to medium; Let the butter melt and simmer.  Allow butter to become completely melted in pan, until liquid butter just begins to bubble (NOT BOILING – a good, healthy simmer, that’s all).

1. 3. STEP THREE

HAVE YOUR GROUND MEDICAL PRODUCT IN A BOWL, READY. Turn the temperature on stove down to relatively-low (maybe a 2-3 on a traditional temperature dial).  Then, while stirring the simmering butter with a spoon,  immediately add the medical marijuana granules (or pieces if that’s the best you can do) to the liquid butter, stirring it all the time.  Continue stirring and cooking it on low and stirring it all the time. Stirring is key!

1. 4. STEP FOUR

Make sure that the temperature on the stove is not turned up above “Low,” or the butter can burn.  Continue the above “cooking and stirring” for about 30 minutes.  During this time, place your strainer over a large bowl (big enough to hold the contents of the sauce pan).   Once the medical-butter has simmered for 30 minutes, strain the medical-marijuana butter by pouring the (HOT) butter-contents over the Strainer, into the bowl beneath.  Remember, this is hot stuff, so be careful . . .

1. 5. STEP FIVE

Now take the large wooden spoon, and press down on the remaining “marijuana mush” on top of the strainer to finish pushing any remaining canna-butter through the strainer, into the butter bowl.  Press firmly with the back of the spoon, which will release (a lot) of the butter through the strainer into the bowl beneath.  (This butter is “trapped” in the Marijuana Mush)

With the spoon, move the “mush” around, side to side, top to bottom, while pushing to release even more butter-liquid in the bowl.  Continue until you cannot get any more liquid out of the mush from pushing  (Get that mush DRY . . . its worth the effort!)

1. 6. STEP SIX

Carefully remove the (now dry) “marijuana mush” from the strainer, and put it into a Large Coffee Filter. Take the very top of the Coffee Filter, spin the filter material to form a “cocoon” completely around the mush, and “enclose” the marijuana-mush inside the coffee filter.

Now, put the Mush-Cocoon OVER THE BUTTER BOWL, and pour a couple tablespoons (not too much) of  HOT WATER on the enclosed coffee filter. Squeeze that mush in the coffee filter with your hand.  Squeeze hard, and proud!  Excess butter will now drip again into the butter bowl.  Repeat as necessary to get ALL of the  medical butter out of marijuana mush and into the butter bowl.

7. STEP SEVEN

Discard Coffee Filter and Mush.

8.            STEP EIGHT

Use the Liquid Medical-Marijuana Butter immediately in a recipe calling for butter.  (Hint: Use the cake-batter scraper to scrape that butter bowl clean and to get every drop into your cooking recipe!)

[or, if desired, let the butter stiffen and cool  -- by putting it overnight in the fridge) -- and then, after it cools, use  it in a recipe calling for butter]

(by Michael Press Berman, Esq.)

1. Until the mid-1900’s, hemp was the leading and primary textile fiber of vegetable origin, which was termed “the king of fiber-bearing plants —the standard by which all other fibers are measured.” Although the United States enacted the Marihuana Tax Act of 1938 (which basically ended hemp production in the United States), ironically, that same year in 1938, Popular Mechanics Magazine touted hemp as “the new billion dollar crop . . . that can be used to produce more than 25,000 products, ranging from dynamite to Cellophane.”
2. The word “Marijuana,” also spelled “Marihuana,” is a noun of Mexican origin that initially referred to low-grade tobacco.
3. In 2002, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld a decision by the appellate court that held that licensed doctors who discuss medical-marijuana treatment and use are protected from criminal penalty, even where those physicians recommend it for a patient’s medical use.
4. According to the National Organization for the Reform for Marijuana Laws, there have been more than 20,000 published studies performed on marijuana and its components.  Over 100 of these published studies have analyzed human subjects.
5. 5. By specifically combining the various Sativa and Indica strains together, medical marijuana bio-engineers are able create specific strains of medical-marijuana varieties, designed to target and treat specific ailments, conditions, and diseases.
6. 6. The following is a partial list of diseases where studies have shown a benefit for the patient to using medical marijuana: AIDS/HIV, Alzheimer’s Disease, Appetite or Nausea, Arthritis, Asthma and other breathing disorders, Cancer, Chemotherapy, Chronic and severe pain, Crohn’s disease and other Gastrointestinal disorders, Epilepsy or seizures, Glaucoma, Hepatitis C, Migraine Headaches, Multiple Sclerosis, Psychological conditions, Tourette’s syndrome, Terminally ill patients.  In addition, Lester Grinspoon, M.D., the renowned Harvard expert on medical marijuana for decades, has reported that there are over 200 medical benefits associated with medical cannabis.
7. The federal government grows medical marijuana and distributes it to some patients, each month, for medical use. The University of Mississippi, by means of a contract with the federal government, grows medical marijuana for “research purposes.”  In addition, there are some patients who receive marijuana as medicine for their illnesses directly from the federal government.
8. Nearly 25% of the States have legalized the use of medical marijuana by qualified patients within the respective States’ borders. Those pioneer States include: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, New Jersey (program not implemented yet), New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. In fact, Oregon voters will decide this fall whether to allow a state network of medical-marijuana dispensaries, in order to fix the state’s 12-year-old medical marijuana program and ensure that patients have a safe and legal supply of medical cannabis.
9. States’ laws regarding patients’ use, possession, and acquisition of medical marijuana vary sharply. For instance, the New Jersey medical-marijuana statute does not allow patients to grow even the smallest amount of medical marijuana on their own, as patients must buy all of their medicine through state-dispensaries. By contrast, in Michigan, there are no medical marijuana dispensaries, and patients can choose to either grow medical marijuana for themselves or designate a “primary caregiver” to grow medical marijuana on their behalf.
10. Millions of people currently use medical marijuana in California every week because that State legalized in 1996 the medicinal use of marijuana. In big part because the State of California currently collects almost $300 MILLION, annually, from its state taxation of medical-marijuana sales, on November 2, 2010, Californians will vote on the “California Marijuana Legalization Initiative,” which would tax and legalize marijuana for recreational use in the State of California.

May those that seek comfort, find comfort,

Michael Press Berman, Esq.

Compassion Associates

Board Chair and Managing Director

The “Michigan Medical Marihuana Act” (Proposal 1) was approved by 63% of the Michigan voters on November 4, 2008. Michigan’s medical-marijuana program was implemented on December 4, 2008, and is overseen by the Michigan Bureau of Health Professions, Department of Community Health. The law makes it legal under Michigan state law for a physician to recommend medical-marijuana treatment to a patient with a qualifying illness/condition (termed a “debilitating medical condition”) – and for a patient that has been issued a state registry identification card to possesses a quantity of medical marijuana that does not exceed 2.5 ounces.  Only if the qualifying patient has not specified that a “primary caregiver” will be allowed under state law to cultivate marijuana for the patient (discussed below), in that case, in addition to being allowed to possess 2.5 ounces of medical-marijuana, the patient may also possess up to 12 marijuana plants kept in an enclosed, locked facility.

Alternatively, instead of choosing to grow for him or herself, the Michigan law allows a qualifying patient to designate a state-registered “primary caregiver” to grow medical-marijuana on behalf of the patient.  Each primary caregiver may grow for up to 5 individual patients.  Where a primary-caregiver is connected by registration to a medical-marijuana patient in Michigan, the caregiver can assist that patient with the medicinal use of marijuana in accordance with the Michigan Act, provided that the “primary caregiver” possesses an amount of marijuana that does not exceed:

(1) 2.5 ounces of usable marijuana for each registered, qualifying patient; and

(2) 12 marijuana plants, for each registered qualifying patient

(kept in an enclosed, locked facility); and

(3) any incidental amount of seeds, stalks, and unusable roots.

(Note: Under the law, a patient must designate either to “grow” for him/herself or “have it grown” by a caregiver; a patient may not register with a primary caregiver to grow on the patient’s behalf while simultaneously growing on their own.

Additionally, the Michigan Act also provides an Affirmative Defense clause, which states that a criminal-defense exists for a patient or primary-caregiver charged with the transfer, possession, and/or cultivation of more than the above “allowable” amounts of medical marijuana, where the patient or primary-caregiver proves to the Court that the additional amount of medical marijuana was actually necessary for the purpose of treating or alleviating the patient’s serious or debilitating medical condition and/or symptoms.

To view the text of Michigan Medical Marijuana act, please click here:

Accordingly, in Michigan, if a “primary caregiver” grows medical marijuana for no more than 5 registered-patients, and that primary caregiver is otherwise fully compliant with the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act, state criminal charges can not be brought against that primary caregiver. It is only when a caregiver goes above and beyond the rules and limitations contained in the Michigan statute that a caregiver is subject to possible criminal-prosecution, possible forfeit of their possessions, and a possible raid on their medical-marijuana facility. As set forth above, even in such a case, notwithstanding the quantity and other limitations contained in the Michigan law, an Affirmative Defense still exists (and both a patient and a caregiver can defeat criminal liability in a state court case) where a primary caregiver proves to the Court that the additional marijuana-quantity was actually necessary for the purpose of treating or alleviating the patient’s serious or debilitating medical condition and/or symptoms.

So what does this all mean? Well, we must first compliment and give a “high five” to the State of Michigan for getting medical marijuana in the hands of suffering patients. Specifically, when Michigan passed their medical marijuana law in 2008, many proponents of the law did not want big medical-marijuana dispensaries to exist (such as in California and Colorado) and, as such, the State did not enact or setup regulation or rules for such large scale dispensaries. But the State of Michigan has put a process in place where patients can grow for themselves, and each other. And that is real good!

Caregivers with the time and expertise to properly, cost-effectively and efficiently grow medical-marijuana can legally do so for up to 5 patients, allowing these suffering individuals to obtain the medicine they so desperately need.  That serves Compassion Associates’ mission, “People Helping People Feel Better” just fine . . .

Second, if you are a caregiver looking to exceed the quantity and/or other limitations in the Michigan law, you better have a damn good attorney on retainer!  You will also need to pay a couple doctors to stand up in Court and testify that the additional quantities of medical marijuana were actually necessary to treat that particular patient’s debilitating medical condition(s).  And because the Affirmative Defense discussed above is exactly that – a defense – a caregiver would first be subject to criminal arrest, forfeiture of possessions, criminal penalties, and attorney/court fees before even being able to raise his or her affirmative defense.  And then the primary caregiver would still need to prove to the Court that the evidence shows the Affirmative Defense to be “legally sufficient.”  I say, “good luck with that . . .”

Third, by means of providing medicine for up to 5 patients, primary caregivers in Michigan can still help to benefit the lives of so many people. Not only will a patient’s life be significantly benefited where the patient is made to feel comfortable and is provided compassion and dignity through the legal use of medical marijuana — but it also brightens the lives of the patients’ families, their loved ones, their co-workers, and everyone around them. Because “Compassion is Contagious” – by each primary giving a “High 5” to just 5 patients, and then 5 patients more . . .  it will eventually go a very long way to making the world a brighter place for us all . . . 5 patients at a time.

May those that seek comfort, find comfort,

Michael Press Berman, Esq.

Compassion Associates

Managing Director / Board Chair

The New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act was signed into law on January 19^th of this year, and the statute as written required the State to implement the new medical-marijuana law six-months later — by TODAY, July 19, 2010. But the state of New Jersey sat back since January and, instead of acting swiftly and responsibly to get this proven “medicine” into the hands of dying and suffering individuals, the New Jersey “political machine” took over, which has already delayed the process for at least an additional three months (and most likely longer because of the many changes to the law now proposed by Governor Christie).

One of the main reasons for this unacceptable and selfish delay by the State of New Jersey is that, unlike the other 13 states that have thoroughly researched, studied and concluded with fact that the best way for patients to receive this medicine is for private/non-profit Alternative Treatment Centers (ATCs) to produce it and distribute the medicine to patients, the State of New Jersey has decided to step in and be the sole grower and distributor of medical-marijuana in the entire state.  But New Jersey has never handled or grown marijuana of any kind and the expertise needed to properly run medical-marijuana facilities exists in the public sector – so the State would clearly need considerable help from outside marijuana experts, patient groups, and the medical community to pull off its “monopoly” related to the production and sale of medical marijuana to its citizens.

However, the State of New Jersey is acting like a two-year old child who wants to do everything by herself, as the State apparently needs help from NO ONE !  Specifically, I, on behalf of Compassion Associates, have written many letters to the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (the department charged with overseeing the medical-marijuana program in New Jersey) and Compassion Associates has offered to assist the Department – at our cost – in any way possible to help move along the process and get medical-marijuana into the hands of patients who need this medicine NOW.  And there are many other wonderful individuals and groups that have also offered their help and expertise to the State in order to get the medical-marijuana program up and running.

But instead of accepting help and using the expertise and patient research of others (that already exists out there) to implement the best possible medical-marijuana program for patients, the State of New Jersey has wholly refused any help or guidance at all, from anyone.  In a Response Letter I recently received on behalf of Compassion Associates from the New Jersey Department of Senior Services, Deputy Commissioner Susan Walsh, MD writes on behalf of the State:

Your correspondence regarding your recent offer to assist the Department in implementation of the New Jersey Compassionate Use of Marijuana Act has been received by this Department. At this time, the Department is not reviewing proposals or received documents, nor is the Department meeting with potential vendors, advocacy groups, lobbyists or other interested parties to present . . . strategies or offers of assistance.  Given the large numbers and diverse recommendations, we believe this is the best way to assure an objective, science based strategy.

So, the State of New Jersey has admitted in writing that it has received “a large number of diverse recommendations” with offers to provide assistance and add expertise to the medical-marijuana program in New Jersey, but the state has instead decided that the best course of action to achieve “an objective, science based study” is: to not review any proposals, to not review any received documents, to not meet with any patient-groups, advocacy groups or interested parties; and to not accept any offers of assistance.

What ticks me off the most about the State of New Jersey’s ridiculous position – that it will absolutely not accept help from the medical marijuana community in establishing its first ever medical-marijuana program in the State – is that the Response Letter has the nerve to call the process “Objective.” Objectivity means listening to all the ideas out there, choosing which ideas will be most beneficial to the medical-marijuana program in New Jersey and to patients, and then implementing the best ideas to help the cause.  Objectivity does not mean closing your ears and eyes, listening to no one, getting no help, and doing nothing.

THAT IS CALLED PROCRASTINATION . . . AND IT IS SHAMEFUL !

Michael Press Berman

Compassion Associates

Co-Founding Director / Managing Member

A copy of the New Jersey ‘response’ can be downloaded here.  Everyone gets the same form letter.

The Vermont General Assembly passed Senate Bill 7 in 2007, which amended Vermont’s Medical Marijuana Law, 18 V.S.A Chapter 86, and expanded the qualifying medical conditions for a marijuana patient to participate in the state’s medical-marijuana program. Senate Bill 7 also (i) increased the quantity of medical-marijuana plants a Vermont medical-marijuana patient may apparently (see below) cultivate [going from one mature and two immature plants under the old law - to two mature and seven immature plants under the current law]; (ii) allows for the licensed physicians of nearby states to legally certify medical-marijuana therapy to Vermont patients, and (iii) decreased the medical-marijuana application fee to $50 (from $100).

There appear to be severe problems, however, with the implementation by the state of Vermont’s Medical Marijuana Law, even as amended in 2007.  In the land that boasts a proud and long-standing state motto of “Freedom and Unity,” patients I spoke with in Vermont, as well as advocates in support of medical marijuana there, all say that, despite the laws’ legalization of medical marijuana for patients going back many years now (and the amendments in 2007), “there is still no access to medical marijuana for patients in Vermont.” According to experts, there are very few facilities in the whole state dispensing medical marijuana to patients under the program (and when I say few, you can count them on one hand . . .). And even the dispensaries in Vermont that do operate are often void of medicine for patients “between harvests” – so there is no medical marijuana at all for qualified, card-holding patients in Vermont during these periods of time.  So the state run “retail” distribution of medical Vermont is almost non-existent, a paltry affair at best! That is so unfair to suffering individuals.

Another reason patients have no access to medical marijuana in Vermont, despite the legislation that purports to grant patients this right, is that Vermont’s statute appears to be silent on exactly how a patient who desires to grow for him/herself is supposed to acquire seeds, cuttings and/or plants. The law also does not answer where and how Vermont patients can properly and legally purchase the chemicals, lights, and other growing and harvesting equipment to run a private medical-marijuana operation (or a co-op arrangement).  Furthermore, Vermont’s Medical Marijuana Law, as written, also appears to be silent on even whether a Vermont patient can actually cultivate medical-marijuana him/herself under the law. And what about the “medibles” (medical, edibles) Yo?  The law does not properly address properly how an individual must acquire and/or create medical-marijuana edible items (such as medical marijuana brownies, cookies, corn muffins, crumb cakes, funnel cakes, you name it . . . I’m getting’ hungry! ).

Were the Vermont legislators drinking Jack and Coke (or Jack straight up!) when they finalized the law? (poetic justice, intended). How can the Vermont Medical Marijuana Law be so fundamentally incomplete?  I just don’t understand . . .

Michael Press Berman

Co-Founding Director, CompassionAssociates.org

The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services oversees the implementation the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act, which in January of this year, deemed by statute, medical-marijuana to be “medicine.”

That same New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services also oversees and administersThe New Jersey Hospital Care Payment Assistance Program (known as “Charity Care Assistance”). The Charity Care Assistance program provides free or reduced charge care to patients who receive inpatient and outpatient services at acute care hospitals throughout the State ofNew Jersey.

This hospital assistance and reduced-charge care are available only for “necessary hospital care.” Charity Care Assistance’s definition of “necessary hospital care” does not include hospital care for the administration of medical marijuana. In addition, there seems to be no attempt on the part of the State of New Jersey to include medical-marijuana hospital services under the Program.

And traditional insurance reimbursement-plans do not currently provide for the payment to individuals for medical-marijuana medicine, so there seems to absolutely no way for low-income patients to receive medical-marijuana if they can not lay out the cash to buy it.

Accordingly, although medical marijuana’s sale and use by all “qualified” patients was made legal and deemed “medicine” in New Jersey under the new law, low-income “qualified” patients (including low-income terminally-ill patients) will be virtually helpless to acquire this valuable medicine because, under the current framework in New Jersey (and throughout the rest of the nation), patients must come “out-of-pocket” to pay for their medical-marijuana medicine.

Such a regime is unacceptable and repugnant, especially because many persons who are required to take large amounts of medicines for serious medical-conditions already have considerable, additional medical-costs, and are also often unable to work full-time or at all. And since government assistance does not cover these patients’ medical marijuana, they are “boxed out” of access to the medicine. As the Beatles wrote, “All We Need Is Love” – and CompassionAssociates.org believes that verse applies to us all. . . .

The founders of CompassionAssociates.org decided that our organization, and our Community made up of patients, doctors, and those concerned and interested about low-income medical marijuana patients, will join together to form the LOW-INCOME MEDICAL MARIJUANA ASSISTANCE program (LIMMA).

LIMMA will exist to fill the void between the legalization of medical marijuana for qualified patients inNew Jersey (and elsewhere!), and the lack of ability for low-income patients to actually pay for their medicine. LIMMA will raise funds from caring individuals, groups, and other organizations — and then apply those donations to help subsidize for low-income patients – not only the medical-marijuana medicine itself — but such related patient costs as: (i) payment for “primary caregiver” services; (ii) payment for travel to and from facilities offering medical marijuana to patients; and (iii) payment for various medical-marijuana accessories needed by a patient, such as a waterpipe or vaporizer, accessories designed for physically-challenged persons, and safety items, such as medical-marijuana safes, lockboxes, and containers.

We look forward to working with all individuals and groups which believe in this goal to join us by contributing to the cause and/or participating with us in future benefits and events. More details concerning LIMMA will follow.

And remember: Compassion is Contagious!

This July 4^th weekend marks the 234th anniversary of the birth of the United States of America and the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  In those perilous days, the freedom bell rang – literally – because brave individuals were willing to risk their life, their property, and everything they had in the world to be truly free from the yoke of heavy-handed government. To achieve liberty, they risked it all – they were “all in” as they say in Poker . . .  So, once a year, every year, our glorious nation spends about a billion dollars on fireworks, burgers, Jack Daniels, and cold Budweiser beer to celebrate and cheer those noble freedom-crusaders.

But while firecrackers and spectacles are burning in the air, and the beer flows down people’s gullets across America, no one seems to take the time along the way to stop, listen and ask, “Is the freedom bell still ringing?”  Like an actual bell, true freedom starts at one point in time and then bellows out making rippling effects as it moves forward.  That is, unless the sound waves have been used up, and the bell rings no more . . .

The second sentence of the Declaration of Independence contains a sweeping statement of human rights and states:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

So, the Declaration of Independence – the document that our forefathers and foremothers fought and died to put in place – explicitly grants each of us the right to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”  But does it really?

It is fair to say that no person would consider them being forced to experience severe, excruciating pain, every day that they wake up and every night when they go to bed, to bring them “Happiness.” It also goes without saying that the right to “Life” encompasses the right for every individual to enjoy their life and feel comfortable within their own body.  And finally, where one is not hurting another person, the right to “Liberty” clearly includes the right of an individual to make themselves free from physical pain and discomfort. The very text of the Declaration of Independence declares “these truths are self evident” and they are “Unalienable Rights”– which means that these innate rights operate “above” the government itself and that they CANNOT be taken away.

After two years of researching and reviewing all available scientific data, in 1999, the (Congressionally chartered) Institute of Medicine released its report on medical marijuana and concluded that “the study team found substantial consensus among experts in the relevant disciplines on the scientific evidence about potential medical uses of marijuana.”  Many other studies, conducted by private clinics and by the government itself over the last decade, have clearly proven the same fact: medical marijuana can effectively treat and alleviate the severe symptoms brought on by many different illnesses and conditions suffered by millions of Americans every day.

Accordingly, there exists proven, natural medicine (that has existed since the dawn of time) – in the form of medical marijuana – which can bring true “happiness” to millions of patients in this country (and around the world). But, even though the government itself acknowledges this very fact as true, through the enforcement of laws forbidding the sale and distribution of medical marijuana to terminally-ill and suffering patients, the government has found a way to “alienate the unalienable” – and to curtail “Liberty” by leaving these suffering patients with only a painful “Life.” As I see it, the “Pursuit of Happiness” – a basic right acknowledged in sentence two of our beloved the Declaration of Independence – demands more!  We all have the inalienable right to basic happiness, and no human on this earth can ever take that away from any of us.

This point should never be forgotten or taken lightly, because each of us are just one diagnosis away from being a patient ourselves. Maybe, instead of lighting bottle-rockets this Fourth of July, someone should really make a loud noise by taking a good whack at the Liberty Bell and letting those freedom ripples vibrate once again.  I am sure the brave individuals that risked their lives, families, and property for our liberty would much rather that type of fireworks show.

Michael Press Berman

CompassionAssociates.org

Co-Founder and Director

There are many people that have been taking note on the article, spread throughout the internet, that Wal-Mart has fired an employee who failed a drug test.  This in itself is not news.  However, when the employee has an inoperable brain tumor and had a prescription for the medical use of marijuana, which is legal in legal, in certainly raises eyebrows and casts a deep shadow over Wal-Mart.

You can read the article here, but here are the facts.   Thirty year old Joseph Casias, who suffers from sinus cancer and an inoperable brain tumor, has been under an oncologist’s care and has a prescription to use medical marijuana to alleviate to pain associated with his illness.  Casias, who was awarded employee of the year at the Wal-Mart in Battle Creek, Michigan in 2008, was fired after failing the test and is now suing the retailing giant with the backing of the American Civil Liberties Union.

As you read this, there must be things that come to mind for you as well as me:

1)    Everyone is concerned about a drug-free workplace, but doesn’t an employer need to show a little bit of its heart in this instance.  There was no mention in the article that Casias tested positive for any other drugs and his use of medical marijuana certainly does not qualify him as a recreational user with a valid prescription.

2)    There is nothing mentioned in the article stating the use of the medical marijuana interfered with Casias’ job performance.  In fact, I doubt he would have been Employee of the Year if that was the case.

3)    With all of the public relations problems Wal-Mart has, why would they fire a cancer patient with two small children suffering from an incurable condition.  What the hell were they thinking?  Isn’t there an appeals process or a Human Resources Department where someone, with a heart, could have looked at the situation and realized that this isn’t some guy looking to get high on the weekends for the hell of it?  Look at his picture in the article.  Does that look someone who is in prime condition and is the picture of health?  Unfortunately, it looks like someone who doesn’t have long to live, doesn’t have long to spend with his children.

Instead, Wal-Mart took the low road, firing the guy not only for the test but in all likelihood also calculating how much money they would save in health insurance costs not to have to cover his medical treatments anymore.

This is why we are fighting in New Jersey.  Because all over this country, the Joseph Casias’ of the world need a voice, a voice of compassion and caring to change the attitudes of people, corporations and governments so they realize that medical marijuana is used to benefit those in the same way morphine does, only in a much safer manner.

Some people take morphine by injection; some people take morphine by pill. You can inhale certain nasal-medicines using a vaporizer, or you can take it as a syrup. You can use a skin antibiotic like Neosporin, or take an antibiotic orally. As with almost every medicine I can think of, Medical Marijuana can properly be ingested into the human body by various means.

Although medical marijuana is frequently smoked and/or vaporized by a patient to achieve the medical benefits of the marijuana-medicine, certain patients with terminal diseases and/or painful, life-threatening conditions are UNABLE to ingest medical marijuana by smoke or vaporizer inhalation. (There are patients with certain types of throat or other cancers that fall into this category, amongst many other categories of patients as well). In order to receive the medical benefits of marijuana, these “qualified” patients must be able to ingest medical marijuana through edible means, such as medical-marijuana cookies and brownies, medical-marijuana milk (commonly called “bhang”), and medical-marijuana candy bars, to name a few. (NOTE: If you are wondering why medical-marijuana is usually mixed with seemingly “dessert” items, its because the actual medical-marijuana material is poor to the taste, and the fat in these items helps chemically release properties of the medical marijuana when it is heated).

Now, the “path of greatness” that took place in getting the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act (“CUMMA”) enacted in New Jersey was absolutely incredible.  There are so many important people that, through their own respective roles in the process, used their positive energy and firm belief in the truth to form a sort of “perfect storm” — that ended with Governor Corzine signing CUMMA into law this year.  Were it not for each of these people’s individual efforts along the way – who knows if the “boat” would have veered of course and the law as it exists today never come to fruition.  So all of the people that fought hard to get CUMMA enacted should be heartily commended (and blessed, if you ask me personally . . .).

BUT . . . while I have been recently attending meetings, charity events, press conferences and rallies in New Jersey about medical marijuana, the question I keep asking the person’s around me, also involved in the medical marijuana process, is:  WHAT ABOUT THE EDIBLES, YO? What about these patients who cannot ingest medical marijuana by other means? And I usually get no response, or a comment like, “Your right.”  So what’s up with that?

CUMMA does not at this time account for the preparation of edible medical-marijuana based items. Nor have I heard any discussions on the part of the press, politicians addressing this issue, or of any of the persons that have previously fought hard to get the law passed to NOW make sure the law is implemented fully to protect and serve these specific-patients’ rights. The time is now (especially since New Jersey has recently announced a three-month delay in the implementation of its medical marijuana program) to force New Jersey to address in the forthcoming CUMMA-Regulations the preparation of edible medical-marijuana products for sale to “qualified” patients.  If this issue is not addressed and researched – NOW – and then included by the State of New Jersey in the forthcoming Regulations related to CUMMA within the three-month window, even though medical marijuana is now deemed “medicine” and is “legal” for qualified patients in New Jersey, certain patients will still, physically, have no access to this medicine.  Such a result seems repugnant, and an example of poor politics.

And Governor Christie’s idea to have all medical marijuana grown at Rudger’s University (the incorrect approach for too many reasons than I will list here) must also account for the PREPARATION and distribution of edible medical-marijuana based items to patients.  So, Rudger’s would be charged with, not only growing and distributing medical marijuana to the whole state, but also baking and preparing all of the medical-marijuana cookies, brownies, candy bars, chocolates, tinctures, etc. for the entire state too.

All I can say on that is that the employees at Rudger’s must have a lot of time on there hands, and they should immediately start consulting with the Keebler Elf for help . . . .

Michael Press Berman

CompassionAssociates.org

Co-Founder and Director