Dormant plans for a “Healing Arts Park” behind Morristown town hall may take on new meaning with a proposal for a fourth community garden– to grow medicinal marijuana.
MorristownGreen.com has learned that a nonprofit called GrassRootz Meds Ltd. of Happy Valley, Ore., will make its pitch at the next council meeting.
If local and state approvals are granted, Morristown would become New Jersey’s first Alternative Treatment Center since passage of the Compassionate Use of Medicinal Marijuana Act more than two years ago.
Details are sketchy, but it appears that a central element of the plan is to give residents their own plots to cultivate. School field trips, similar to those at the Urban Farm at Lafayette, also are envisioned.
“Kids need 2 learn powr of herbal meds 4 glaucoma & such,” ComandrCannabis posted on Twitter, where MorristownGreen.com got wind of the proposal.
Facing budget pressures, town officials last year quietly shelved plans for a so-called Healing Arts Park that would have converted a portion of the parking area into a refuge for passive recreation.
A sunny mural of butterflies and flowers would have welcomed visitors to a park with a labyrinth, amphitheater, sculptures and “bio-swales” to cleanse stormwater runoff. Volunteer efforts were under way to raise $3 million for that project.
Instead, the council authorized a redesign of the parking lot entrance and planting of trees and shrubs fronting Franklin Street.
Mayor Tim Dougherty and Council President Michelle Dupree Harris could not immediately be reached for comment on the new proposal. Nor could members of Grow It Green Morristown, the nonprofit that started the Early Street Community Garden, the Urban Farm at Lafayette and a new garden on Martin Luther King Avenue.
Also unclear is how the Franklin Corners Neighborhood Association will respond to the concept of a marijuana farm on its doorstep.
“Not exactly the pot-pourri we had in mind for that space,” said one member, who requested anonymity when informed of the pending proposal.
Advocates for medicinal marijuana across the state have expressed impatience that no relief has yet reached patients suffering from chronic pain and serious afflictions. They contend that New Jersey’s law, the 14th in the United States to legalize use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, is the nation’s most restrictive. Gov. Chris Christie, who has voiced support for the program, has blamed delays on municipalities that do not want Alternative Treatment Centers within their borders.
A spokesperson for GrassRootz Meds said the organization has studied many communities, looking for the ideal place for a pilot project. Morristown seems like a natural fit, she said.
“This project is green, it brings citizens together for an important humanitarian purpose, it teaches kids valuable lessons, and it’s eminently walkable,” Holly Fernstrom said from Happy Valley.
She declined to say more until the April 10 council meeting.
“We don’t want this going up in smoke, if you know what I mean,” Holly said.
Well said, Jason. There is a lot of compassion in this community. It’s got to carry us through what is going to be a really difficult week.
Be well.
Although this is an April fool’s joke, the issue isn’t a laughing matter (though I do enjoy a good joke).
I have lived in Morristown my entire life, forty years in the same house, steps from town hall. I have seen it change hands from Beneficial to Carteret to town hall. I learned to ride a bike in the parking lot. I went to Morristown High School. I am as much a resident of Morristown as anyone could be.
I am also full-time disabled. I have spine and brain tumors. I’ve had two major surgeries and radiation to my lifetime maximum. I can no longer walk, my hearing has been knocked out, I have double vision, I have seizures, the laundry list of issues goes on.
I am proud to have grown up in New Jersey, and proud to call Morristown my home. My family are my daily caretakers, without their love and attention I would not last a day.
Morristown is a great home, and has an opportunity to show just how good it is. It should be a place not only for the rich and healthy, but also for people who need more in order to live. Morristown should be known not for high incomes, upscale restaurants, and expensive homes…it should be known for compassion, for taking care of people, for conscientious neighbors.
I would love to see Morristown take a leadership position on this issue. What better place than the most compassionate town I know of in New Jersey. It’s well overdue that we allow critically ill patients to take what ever drug they feel is best for them.