Mike and Marie Miceli of Jackson Township, N.J., are the latest victims of a law against the medical use of marijuana that desperately needs to change. Mike has Crohn's disease, an inflammatory bowel condition. He has severe abdominal pain and constant diarrhea more than 20 times a day. He takes a host of prescribed medications that are either ineffective or have intolerable side effects. On Sept. 4, the day of his arrest, he weighed 197 pounds. Two days later, he had already lost nine pounds. He was hospitalized on Sept. 7, and he spent nine days in the hospital. He was wasting away and in severe pain. The arrest for his use of medical marijuana may turn out to be a death sentence for Mike Miceli.
Marijuana has helped Mike immensely. Marijuana relieved his stomach pains, and it stopped his severe diarrhea. Marijuana also helped him sleep since he was no longer constantly being awakened by urges to go to the bathroom. Mike said one of his doctors told him to research marijuana as a therapeutic form of relief when he was first diagnosed with Crohn's disease more than 10 years ago. After Mike did the research, he experimented with it. He said he lived a semi-healthy life using marijuana therapeutically. Then, in December 2007, his wife gave birth to his only son. He stopped all marijuana use when his son was born, but three months later, he had lost about 25 pounds and was wasting away quickly. He could not take the pain anymore. He started medicating with marijuana again, gained weight and felt better. Now Mike faces charges for cultivating a small marijuana garden in the closet of his home. The New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services removed his beloved 8-month-old baby, and his wife also faces marijuana charges. There ought to be a law.
In fact, there is a bill in the New Jersey legislature that would protect patients like Mike. It is the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act (S-119 & A-804). This bill would allow patients to grow and possess a small amount of marijuana when a physician recommends it. Unfortunately, this bill has languished in legislative committees for nearly four years. In May 2008, the Assembly Health Committee held a hearing on the bill, quibbled about certain details and, in the end, did not even vote on it. The committee members did not question the validity of medical marijuana, only how best to get it to patients like Mike. The delay of the legislative committee members has led to the awful situation in which Mike Miceli now finds himself.
There is no legitimate reason to delay passing this bill into law.
The use of marijuana as medicine has broad support among both health care professionals and the general public. Some 80 state and national health care organizations ¾ including the American College of Physicians, the American Nurses Association, the American Public Health Association and The New England Journal of Medicine ¾ support immediate legal patient access to medical marijuana. Nearly half of all doctors with opinions on the matter support legalizing marijuana as a medicine, according to a survey conducted for the American Society of Addiction Medicine. Surveys also show that eight out of 10 American voters say they support the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes. Basic compassion and common sense demand that we allow seriously ill patients, like Mike Miceli, to use whatever medication provides safe and effective relief.
The Coalition for Medical Marijuana-New Jersey is an all-volunteer, nonprofit educational organization whose mission is to inform the public about the benefits of medical marijuana. Visit our Web site www.cmmnj.org for more information.
Ken Wolski is Rutgers College Class of 1971 alumnus. He is currently the executive director for the Coalition for Medical Marijuana-New Jersey.
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