Brian Wilson
Compassionate Christie No More?
The bumps in the road for New Jersey’s medical marijuana program have been well documented. The program was initially approved by exiting Governor Corzine on his last day in office four years ago. Current Governor Chris Christie was never a fan of medical marijuana and tried every strategy at his disposal to delay the start of the program.
In the last year however, it seemed Governor Christie was softening his stance and attempting to get himself in line with the views of the rest of the country. He vowed to stay out of the way of the laws and New Jersey finally had a dispensary open in Montclair about a year ago. Although there are very strict parameters set to qualify for medical marijuana, the Garden State appeared to be on the right track. Over the summer, New Jersey residents Meghan and Brian Wilson brought a new medical marijuana discussion to the state. Their daughter suffers from Dravet Syndrome, a rare but extreme form of epilepsy. As many parents are finding out across the country, marijuana is emerging as one of the most reliable treatments for the condition as traditional medications provide many side effects and do not eliminate the seizures effectively.
A few months back, Governor Christie approved some legislative changes to the medical marijuana program after a public confrontation in a diner where the Wilson’s begged the governor to help their daughter survive. These changes now permit the Wilson’s daughter to receive treatment with cannabis. Unfortunately the strains and necessary information the Wilson’s need are not currently available in New Jersey. They are now pushing the New Jersey legislature to pass a new bill that would allow them to get the necessary medication they need out of state. This has angered Christie, who has reverted back to his more rigid anti medical marijuana stance. In regards to the new bill Governor Christie resorted to what sounded like bully tactics. In what seems to be an oversimplification, the Governor said “See this is what happens. 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. So we’re done.”
The Wilson’s may see it a bit differently as their daughter’s quality of life is on the line. They do not see themselves as an engine to push legalization. Brian Wilson responded to Governor by saying “There’s no outpouring of people signing up for this program’ because who wants to spend $200 on sign-up fees plus the countless doctors fees, not covered by insurance, to participate in a program that cannot serve the current client base?” Medical marijuana may be a difficult political issue for the conservative Christie as he already has a problem with the Republican base for being too liberal. Unfortunately, on his way to a White House bid the Governor may be alienating everyone as few people are against medical marijuana these days.