海角大神

Three of New Jersey鈥檚 five medical marijuana dispensaries have had their business pages taken down by Facebook this week.聽聽

Breakwater Treatment and Wellness in Cranbury, Garden State in Woodbridge, and Compassionate Sciences in Bellmawr have all had their pages removed 鈥渇or violating our Community Standards,鈥� Facebook spokeswoman Arielle Aryah tells The Associated Press.聽

The site鈥檚 鈥楥ommunity Standards鈥� ban advertising or promotion of drugs, tobacco, and guns.

But New Jersey pot users, sellers, and promoters are left scratching their heads because medicinal marijuana has been legal in the Garden State since 2011.聽聽

鈥淚t鈥檚 just not right for Facebook to do this. It鈥檚 entirely inappropriate,鈥� Ken Wolski, chief executive officer of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana of New Jersey, tells 海角大神 in a phone interview Thursday. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not illegal drug use, marijuana is medicine in New Jersey. The state has the responsibility to decide what is medicine and what is not, the Supreme Court has agreed to that.鈥澛�

While all forms of marijuana violate federal law, the Obama administration has made it clear that federal law enforcement will avoid investigating uses that are legal at the state level.聽

Medical marijuana is legal in 23 states and the District of Columbia. New Jersey currently has over in the program. 聽聽

The dispensaries say Facebook鈥檚 actions are hurting their patients, as many medical marijuana patients check the pages daily too see if their designated strain of marijuana is in stock.聽

鈥淢edical marijuana is highly individualized for patients. There are thousands of strains and some of them are more effective for various conditions,鈥� Mr. Wolski tells the Monitor. Because there is a 鈥済reat deal of ignorance鈥� in the medical community about marijuana, 鈥渆ducation about marijuana is difficult to get.鈥� The typical advice to ask your doctor isn鈥檛 typically relevant, he explains.聽聽

鈥淚f you can鈥檛 ask your doctor if a certain strain will help you more than another, one way you can get this information is from the dispensary鈥檚 Facebook page where other patients like you can talk about which strains work best for them,鈥� says Wolski. 鈥淚t鈥檚 so important for patients to have places where they can communicate freely with other people who are knowledgeable in this industry.鈥澛�

Mike Nelson, general manager of Compassionate Sciences, tells The Associated Press that the dispensary鈥檚 Facebook page is . And patient Amy Marie Keller from Roselle Park says without Garden State dispensary鈥檚 Facebook page, she will have to call the dispensary every morning to see if her specific strains are in stock.聽

Facebook is 鈥渋ncredibly important because the ,鈥� adds Mr. Nelson. Under New Jersey state law, the five medical marijuana dispensaries are prohibited from advertising. So 鈥渃ommunication between patients about what is working鈥� on the Facebook page is a way to educate users without breaking the law.聽

鈥淲hat is Facebook going to do next? Shut down the New Jersey Department of Health page?鈥� asks Wolski.