NEWARK -- New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine was spending his last full day in office mulling scores of bills that await his signature.
Corzine today was working out of his Newark office while the governor's Statehouse office in Trenton is readied for his successor. He will be signing bills privately throughout the day.
He has no public schedule.
Among the items on Corzine's desk is legislation giving chronically ill patients legal access to marijuana. If Corzine signs the measure, New Jersey would become the 14th state to allow medical marijuana.
By a vote of 48 to 14 in the state's assembly on Monday, New Jersey became the 14th state in the union to make legal accommodations for the use of medical marijuana.
However, California this is not.
The bill, which was supported by both outgoing Gov. John Corzine and Governor-elect Chris Christie, will likely become law this week. It restricts doctors from prescribing marijuana for anything less than a terminal illness or debilitating condition, such as cancer, AIDS or multiple sclerosis.
Patients will not be allowed to grow their own supply and sales of medical marijuana will be tracked by the same regulatory framework used with powerful opiates like OxyContin.
TRENTON, N.J. — The Legislature on Monday approved a bill that would make New Jersey the 14th state to allow chronically ill patients access to marijuana for medical reasons.
Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine supports the legislation and could sign it before leaving office next week, making it law.
The bill allows patients with ailments such as cancer, AIDS and multiple sclerosis to buy up to 2 ounces (57 grams) of marijuana a month at state-monitored dispensaries.
Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, a Democrat, was a co-sponsor of the bill and pushed for it for years. He said medical marijuana can alleviate suffering and there's no evidence it increases overall drug use.
The NJ Assembly Health Committee passed the bill in June 2009 with new restrictions compared to the version that had already passed the state Senate. The sponsors of the bill along with the Majority Offices of both Houses have been working since the summer to craft compromise language. If a common version of the bill passes votes in the Assembly and the Senate next week it will go to Governor Corzine’s desk. The outgoing Democrat has repeatedly stated that he will sign the bill into law.
Politicians in New Jersey have expressed strong and even outspoken support for medical marijuana access in 2009. Although retiring, Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts (D-Camden) has supported the bill and has now fulfilled his pledge to post it for a vote. State Senators Scutari and Lesniak, both sponsors of the bill, appealed for an Executive Pardon of MS patient John Wilson for his cultivation of 17 cannabis plants to treat his disease.
A New Jersey man with multiple sclerosis was allowed to mention his medical condition only once after he took the stand Wednesday to defend himself against marijuana charges.
John Wilson, 37, told jurors he had grown marijuana plants behind his Franklin Township rental property and took the drug for personal use. After lawyers talked privately with the judge, Wilson was allowed to make brief mention of his medical condition.
Wilson testified that he told officers who arrived at his home Aug. 18, 2008 -- after a police helicopter spotted marijuana plants in his backyard -- that "I was not a drug dealer, and I was using the marijuana to treat my MS."
The latest reports out of Trenton are that by the time the current governor leaves office, New Jersey is likely to have a law authorizing medical marijuana. So on a recent trip to California I decided to check out a marijuana clinic to see what the future will be like.
I was amazed at what I witnessed when I first walked in the door of the clinic on a downtown street in Oakland. The proponents of medical marijuana argue that those who need it are often suffering from dreadful, debilitating diseases. So I felt great sympathy for the patients as I watched them walk into the back room of the clinic to get their prescriptions filled. I could only imagine the agony these poor, unfortunate souls must have been experiencing.
EDITORIAL: Sponsors of a law that would make New Jersey the 14th state to legalize prescription medical use of marijuana are trying to get it posted in time for a vote before Gov. Jon Corzine leaves office next month.
So let's be blunt about the potential benefits: Start with the increase in the number of spontaneous hacky-sack games. Imagine the much-needed boost the sagging paraphernalia industry will get. And figure on the speed limit pretty much lowering itself.
On the other hand, we could find our PATH stations flooded with New Yorkers, in a bizarre sort of reverse one-toke-over-the-line bridge-and-tunnel dynamic.
Hardly a week passes, it seems, without some some news on the marijuana front. Just last week, for instance, prompted by a Washington Post story, we asked whether full-scale legalization is an inevitability.
This week, more evidence of the direction in which we’re headed: New Jersey is poised to become the next state to allow residents to use marijuana, when recommended by a doctor, for relief from serious diseases and medical conditions. Click here for the story, from the WSJ’s Suzanne Sataline.
New Jersey is poised to become the next state to allow residents to use marijuana, when recommended by a doctor, for relief from serious diseases and medical conditions.
The state Senate has approved the bill and the state Assembly is expected to follow. The legislation would then head to the governor's office for his signature.
Gov. Jon Corzine, the Democrat who lost his re-election bid this month, has indicated he would sign the bill if it reaches his desk before he leaves office in January. It would likely be one of Mr. Corzine's last acts before relinquishing the job to Republican Chris Christie.
Trenton- Republicans and Democrats have been making the news more often addressing medical marijuana in New Jersey.
Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts told the Newark Star-Ledger on Nov. 15 that the medical cannabis legislation would be a priority for the upcoming lame-duck sessions in Trenton.
Codey and Roberts say one big lame-duck goal is to make New Jersey the 14th state in the nation to legalize marijuana for people with debilitating illnesses. Corzine has said he would sign the bill; Christie said it needs more restrictions but supports the concept of medical marijuana.
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By a vote of 48 to 14 in the state's assembly on Monday, New Jersey became the 14th state in the union to make legal accommodations for the use of medical marijuana.
By Angela Delli Santi, Canadian Press
Chris Goldstein
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The latest reports out of Trenton are that by the time the current governor leaves office, New Jersey is likely to have a 
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