Rally message: Poor people need pot too

CAMDEN – It costs a lot of money to use marijuana legally in New Jersey.
Before a patient can take his first dose, he has to shell out $200 to register in the state's medical marijuana program, pay at least three visits to a registered doctor, and cough up another $535 per ounce — about double the black market price — for cannabis sold in one of the state's three dispensaries.

The program is biased against low-income patients and makes them vulnerable to arrest if they obtain cheaper, illegal cannabis, advocates say. So, on Saturday, a coalition of marijuana patients and their advocates will march on Camden in the "Poor People's Parade for Pot."
More than 150 people have signed up to go on the group's Facebook page.

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Supporters will start their sidewalk demonstration at 2 p.m. at Camden City Hall, before stopping at the police administration building, the federal courthouse, and Johnson Park for a public smoke-in at 4:20 p.m. The event is part of a series of such rallies held to protest New Jersey's marijuana laws and educate residents.
Organizers said they did not seek a permit for the rally because they plan to march only on sidewalks and public property. A spokesman for the Camden County Police was unable to comment Wednesday on how the department planned to respond to demonstrators.

 

Buy PhotoA coalition of marijuana patients and their advocates will march on Camden in the ‘Poor People’s Parade for Pot.’ (Photo: JOHN ZIOMEK/COURIER-POST)

Pot demonstrations are a regular occurrence in Trenton, where protesters often smoke in public without an arrest, organizers said.
About 3,700 patients are registered in New Jersey's marijuana program, which is open to patients with 10 debilitating conditions, including multiple sclerosis, seizure disorders and terminal illness. If a patient has cancer, HIV or AIDS, marijuana may be prescribed to treat severe pain, severe nausea, or wasting syndrome.
For thousands of patients, New Jersey's medical marijuana program is simply too cost-prohibitive to consider, explained the parade's organizer and activist Vanessa Maria of Pennsauken.

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"The costs can really add up," said Maria, founder of the East Coast Cannabis Coalition. "A lot of people simply don't have the funds to pay for simple necessities."
Ricardo Rivera of Camden County plans to march with his 8-year-old daughter, who has a severe form of epilepsy. Since starting a daily regimen of cannabis-infused oil, Tatyana "Tuffy" Rivera now suffers just one seizure every few weeks, instead of hundreds per day.

"The program was designed for the middle and upper class," Rivera said. "But disease doesn't care where you come from. It hits all classes of society, poor or rich. Everyone should have the right to be properly medicated."
Ed "NJ Weedman" Forchion will cruise through Camden over the next few days in his Weedmobile, handing out fliers to advertise the rally. The 50-year-old Winslow Township resident carries a California medical marijuana card, which cost him $40. Diagnosed with bone tumors 15 years ago, Forchion uses marijuana to treat chronic pain, but he wants cannabis legalized for everyone.

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Gov. Jon Corzine signed the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act on Jan. 18, 2010, as he left office. That same year, nearly 22,000 people were arrested for marijuana possession in the state. One of them was Forchion.
Marijuana is classified as a Schedule I drug under federal law. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration considers marijuana among the most dangerous drugs, with a high potential for abuse and addiction, and with no accepted medical use.
"When you're arrested for the stupid marijuana laws, they're based on total lies," Forchion said. "They're the most ridiculous, obscene laws there are in the country."