Lawmakers approved a Bill that would make New Jersey the 14th US state to allow doctors to prescribe marijuana for patients suffering from cancer and other debilitating diseases.
The legislation passed the assembly 48-16 with one abstention. The measure already cleared the state senate, which voted 25-13 to approve restrictions in the assembly version, including a list of ailments for which the drug can be prescribed and a prohibition on the growing of marijuana by patients.
“This is a wonderful beginning,” said Nancy Fedder (62) of Hillsborough, who spoke outside the assembly chamber and said she has been illegally smoking marijuana for more than a decade to alleviate pain from multiple sclerosis.
“It’s something that needed to happen a long time ago. Sometimes I have to go to bed and stay there for days, and when I smoke marijuana the pain comes right down.”
The senate and the assembly, which are both controlled by Democrats, are getting ready to share power with the first Republican governor elected since 1997.
Governor Jon Corzine (63), a Democrat who leaves office on January 19th, supports medical marijuana and will review the measure, said his spokesman, Robert Corrales.
Governor-elect Christopher Christie (47), a Republican who was the state’s former US attorney, said he wants the Bill to tie use to a strict list of diseases.
Marijuana, produced from the cannabis plant, can be smoked or ingested. Its recreational use is illegal in the US.
New Jersey’s Bill would allow patients to purchase as much as two ounces of marijuana every month. Six state-run dispensaries would be established, with the department of health monitoring the programme and recommending in the future whether to expand access. – (Bloomberg)