N.J Governor Chris Christie is seeking to give access to medical marijuana to sick children adding he would be requiring more standards than the recommendations of the legislators.
Christie wants to add in the rules that children should receive at least two doctor approvals for the registered health program, and at least three for the non-registered. The medical marijuana should be given on a pill form as well since it is children who will be using it. The announcement was made on Friday as reported by WSJ.
The original recommendation of the legislature was only one approval but he rejected it and asked them to reconvene immediately considering the changes he wants so that he could approve the program.
"While many will disagree with the decision to allow minors access to marijuana, even for serious illnesses, parents should remain empowered to make a choice based on their own reflections," Mr. Christie wrote in his conditional veto.
The talks about allowing medical marijuana access to children sparked when a two-year-old patient named Vivian Wilson of Scotch Plains, N.J., needed it to relieve her from the pains of the Dravet Syndrome—a rare type of epilepsy that can’t be controlled by any anti-seizure medicine.
Christie made a tough decision in regulating medical marijuana in the state to limit the growth of the industry which has happened in other states. It is not yet determined if this decision will affect his plans of running for presidency in 2016.
"My concern would be that he's creating an image that will offend conservative Republicans in a Republican primary," said Michael Dennehy, a GOP consultant from New Hampshire, to WSJ.
According to the list of the National Conference of State Legislatures, 19 states and the Washington D.C. had already granted medical marijuana access. The N.J program is one of the most regulated due to a limited number of conditions allowed for access.
