Corzine says he would sign medical marijuana legislation
TRENTON – Gov. Jon S. Corzine said Tuesday that he supports and would sign a bill allowing medicinal marijuana use, but added that economic issues are his top priority.“I don’t think that we ought to be having fights on issues that don’t go to the heart of the needs of a broad majority of folks,” Corzine told reporters Tuesday afternoon. “I think that this is one that if it can be moved expeditiously because there’s a consensus, I think that’s great. I have studied the issue and I think that if properly structured, it’s an initiative that’s sensible.”
The Compassionate Use Medicinal Marijuana Act would allow state-licensed patients to possess as much as 1 ounce of marijuana and six plants for medical treatment. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Jim Whelan, D-Atlantic, and Nicholas Scutari, D-Middlesex, Somerset, Union, also would create Medicinal Marijuana Alternate Treatment Centers.
The possession and distribution of marijuana would remain illegal under federal law, but advocates said it would essentially decriminalize that, because most prosecutions are under state laws.
The state Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee approved the bill by a 6-1 vote Monday. It now faces a full Senate vote. While it has been discussed in General Assembly committees, a vote has not been scheduled. Thirteen other states have similar laws.
Now it is just a matter of getting the bill through the Senate and the Assembly. I think the limit needs to be higher – you can get a whole lot more than one ounce of marijuana off of six plants. The way the bill is structured now, come harvest time all New Jersey’s patients who grow would be out of compliance. Eight ounces is somewhat better and twenty-four ounces (as in Washington and Oregon) would be ideal.
But if it has to be one ounce to begin with to get the bill passed, then we’ll start from there. Once we have some protection for patients, we can work on getting better protections through amendments.
/potleaf-icon.gifI hope the bill making weed legal goes through.There are worse things out there like crack,meth,coke even these new so called miracle drugs.Plus weed is not addictive and the proof is doctors don’t prescribe medicinal crack,coke,meth or smack!http://stash.norml.org/wp-includes/images/smilies/bongin.gif
The one oz. limit is pretty lame. I live in “one ounce state” and even one plant yields 2-3 oz. My plant limit is 3 mature plants so I get about 6 oz a grow. So five outa the six months I’m not in compliance but at least we have some protection… well except that the state I live in has the per se Drugged Driving Law where the limit is 2 micro grams per whatever! The protection I have as a MMJ patient is not good and I can never let my guard down but it’s better than the alternative.
Gov. Corzine is throwing his support into the bill too. This is a big plus for the patients in NJ!