Pubdate: Tue, 12 Jan 2010 Source: Wall Street Journal (US) Page: A2 Copyright: 2010 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Contact: http://www.wsj.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487 Author: Suzanne Sataline Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 (Cannabis - Medicinal - U.S.) NEW JERSEY SET TO ALLOW MEDICAL POT New Jersey's state legislature Monday approved a bill that would allow chronically and terminally ill patients to smoke marijuana with their doctors' approval. Gov. Jon Corzine, a Democrat, has told lawmakers he would sign it before leaving office next week. A spokesman for the governor couldn't be reached to comment. New Jersey would join more than 10 states that give a medical exception to marijuana use despite federal laws prohibiting the drug's use. Those states include California, Colorado, Maine and Michigan. Attorney General Eric Holder said earlier this year that the federal government wouldn't prosecute people complying with state medical marijuana laws. New Jersey's bill allows patients suffering from cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis and other medical conditions to buy up to two ounces of marijuana each month at state-sanctioned dispensaries. The state health department would issue dispensary cards to patients with "debilitating medical conditions," allowing them to use the drug with doctors' approvals. Those conditions would include chronic pain, wasting syndrome and terminal illness if a physician determines a patient has12 months or less to live. Mr. Corzine's successor, Chris Christie, a Republican and former federal prosecutor, also has said he supported the bill's intent, but he has expressed concern about loopholes that he said could result in the drug being abused. A spokeswoman for Mr. Christie couldn't be reached to comment. Such concerns had prompted state lawmakers to revise an earlier version of the bill. Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, a co-sponsor of the bill, said it would be the nation's strictest medical-marijuana law, the Associated Press reported. In California, the state has largely left interpretation of its medical-marijuana law to counties, and pot shops have proliferated in some places. Los Angeles recently launched a crackdown after the number of dispensaries reached an estimated 1,000, and officials and residents complained that many were illegal cash businesses that had little to do with medical care. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake