By David Madden

TRENTON, NJ (CBS) – A New Jersey Superior Court Judge has referred a case involving the state’s medical marijuana program to an Appeals panel.

Judge Mary Jacobson made the ruling in Trenton as she denied a bid by the Christie Administration to throw a lawsuit out. That suit seeks to have the Coalition for Medical Marijuana of New Jersey serve as court appointed monitors of the three-year-old program.

Coalition CEO Ken Wolski says, “We feel that the medicinal marijuana program is not being implemented in any kind of meaningful way and that tens of thousands of patients continue to be harmed.”

The state has put rules in place making it difficult for patients, doctors and distributors alike. Only one distribution center is open out of six called for under the rules (see related story). State officials declined comment, but in legal briefs suggest that setting up the program is a “daunting task.”