[Illustration by ALEX FINE] BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY Of all the shitty ways to die, ALS is arguably the shittiest. Also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, ALS stands for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and in short it is slow death brought on by the steady and methodical withering of the nerves that control your muscles. First, you can’t button your shirt. Then, you can’t walk and eventually, you can’t breathe. The cruelest irony is that the disease does not affect higher brain function, and so even at the very end, you are a fully present mind trapped in […]
BREAKING: New Jersey To Delay Medical Mary Jane
BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY New Jersey has hit a speed bump on the road to medical marijuana. The Christie administration has been asking for more time to implement the law and PW has learned that the bill’s chief sponsor, State Senator Nicholas Scutari, is going to give it to them. As you may recall, back in January New Jersey became the 14th state in the union to pass medical marijuana legislation. A last minute amendment to the legislation — part of a trade-off that made the law more restrictive in terms of who qualifies to receive medical marijuana […]
SCRAPPLE TV NEWS: Piggie Of The Week
Fat, Republican and fuck-the-little-guy is no way to go through four years as governor of New Jersey, son.
SMELL YA LATER: Dad Vail Regatta Sails To Jersey
DAILY NEWS: The Dad Vail Regatta — held in Philadelphia on the Schuylkill since 1953 — is officially moving the 2010 race to North Jersey. Regatta spokesman Harry Stinger confirmed last night that the event would be moving about 90 miles northeast to Rumson, N.J. “We are thrilled that the Dad Vail Regatta has decided to relocate to Rumson,” said John Ekdahl, mayor of the Monmouth County town. “We think the event will have a tremendous economic impact not only for Rumson but for all of the surrounding Two River towns,” he said, referring to the area along the Navesink […]
MEDICAL MARIJUANA: High Anxiety
NEW YORK TIMES: “I’m so totally paranoid I can’t stand myself,” said the distributor, who runs a nonprofit group here that grows and sells marijuana for medicinal purposes and who insisted on meeting in the privacy of a hotel room. It was not meant to be this way. New Mexico’s new medical marijuana law was intended to provide safe, aboveboard access to the drug for hundreds of residents with chronic pain and other debilitating conditions. By licensing nonprofit distributors, New Mexico hoped to improve upon the free-for-all distribution systems in some states like California and Colorado, where hundreds of for-profit […]
DRUG TEST: Frisking The Inky’s NJ Medical Marijuana Story For The Straight Dope On The War On Drugs
As you may have heard, the great state of New Jersey appears poised to become the 14th state in union to legalize and regulate the dispensation of medical marijuana to chronically ill patients. Still, old drug warrior habits die hard. The day before lawmakers in Trenton approved medical marijuana legislation, the New Jersey State Police, in conjunction with the National Guard, were conducting training flights with a Black Hawk Helicopter on how to locate and bust marijuana growers. COST OF A BLACK HAWK HELICOPTER: $6 Million Dollars [SOURCE: Global Security] NUMBER OF MARIJUANA PLANTS ERADICATED IN NEW JERSEY IN 2008: […]
NJ State Assembly Approves Medical Marijuana Bill
UPDATE: New Jersey moved closer to allowing chronically ill patients to smoke marijuana to relieve symptoms of pain and nausea. The Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee approved the medical marijuana bill by an 8-1 vote with two abstentions Thursday. New Jersey would become the 14th state with such a law if it passes the Legislature and Gov. Jon Corzine signs it. Corzine has said he would. MORE THE EXAMINER: Just when we thought that New Jersey would be the fourteenth state to ratify laws lifting the ban on medical marijuana, a new obstacle has appeared to slow it down. […]