Chris Christie was confronted yesterday by a constituent who wants the governor to sign a bill making it easier for sick kids to get medical marijuana.
Brian Wilson is the father of Vivian, 2, who suffers from a severe form of epilepsy known as Dravet Syndrome, which can be treated by a specific strain of medical marijuana. Wilson caught up with the governor at a diner in Scotch Plains, N.J, and asked him why he hadn’t signed a bill making that possible that the state legislature passed in June.
“I was wondering what the holdup is. It’s been like two months now,” Wilson asked. “These are complicated issues,” Christie responded. When Wilson insisted it was a very simple issue, the governor disagreed. “No, I know you think it’s simple … and it’s not.”
The governor said he has been studying the issue and promised Wilson he would make a decision one way or another by tomorrow, however. “I’ll have a decision by Friday. I wish for the best for you, your daughter and your family and I’m going to do what I think is best for the people of the state.”
“Please don’t let my daughter die, Governor,” Wilson pleaded. According to the New York Daily News , “The bill awaiting Christie’s signature would allow doctors to prescribe Vivian medical marijuana in pill form and help prevent her from having life-threatening seizures.”
Last month, Christie expressed reservations about the bill during a radio program. “I’m concerned about expanding the program. And I want to make sure that if we do it, we do it in a way that is helpful to children, does not reduce any of the requirements of the program; to make sure this does not go down a slippery slope of broadening the program and making it easier (for unqualified people) to get marijuana.”
Do you think that Chris Christie will sign or veto the bill increasing access to medical marijuana by children?
