Gov. Jon Corzine tonight signed a bill legalizing marijuana for severely ill patients, making New Jersey the 14th state to allow use of the drug for medical purposes. The bill (S119) was expected to take effect in six months. It was one of more than 50 measures Corzine signed today during his last day in office. Gov.-elect Chris Christie takes office at noon Tuesday. Only patients with specific illnesses would be permitted to get a prescription. The illnesses include cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS, seizure disorder, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as Lou Gherig’s disease), severe muscle spasms, muscular dystrophy, inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn’s disease and any terminal illness if a doctor has determined the patient will die within a year. The legislation also allows the state health department to include other illnesses when it writes rules implementing the law.
The law has other restrictions such as forbidding people from growing their own marijuana, dispensing it through licensed “alternate treatment centers,” and requiring designated caretakers who retrieve the drug on behalf of someone severely ill to undergo criminal background checks.
“It means a lot to my family whether I can go sleigh-riding or not, or even just a day at the beach,” said Chuck Kwiatkowski, a 38-year-old multiple sclerosis patient from Hazlet who uses the drug. “It’s a great thing to not feel like a criminal anymore.”
Opponents said it would send the wrong message to children and promote crime. Star Ledger.
4:20;)
Now we just a bill to make Marinol easier to get.. (pill) synthetic Delta-9 THC, the “active” chemical in marijuana!!
roll one up dude
Why is TLS so into the marijuana issue? Stick to hachnosos sefer torah and hock. Marijuana is nisht a yiddishe subject matter.
anonymous – LIGHTen up and expand your mind. You will then realize there is more to life than Hachnosos Sefer Torah & hocking!!! Why such a big fuss over kanabos? Oy vey!!
To #6 it’s Cannabis by the way 🙂
Perhaps the kiddush club would not be so pretentious if they chose the safer alternative to alcohol – kanabos, cannabis, marijuana, or whatever else one chooses to refer to it as. Educate yourself on the facts. Look up norml and mpp on the internet.
Hey StonerJew – Kanabos is Hebrew for cannabis.Or Kaneh-bosem, or Qaneh Bosem. All sound remarkably like the term Cannabis (or cannabus) that we use today. Did you know researchers from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem discovered that references to marijuana (or marihuana, if you prefer) as a medicine are seen as far back as 1,600 BC in Egyptian, Assyrian, Greek, and Roman writings? What a wonderful plant.
Make that: as far back as 2100. Other cultures can trace their use of cannabis to 0001
for a bunch of stoners.
keneh bosem is listed in the torah as one of the ketores.
so what. do you rub mirrh and fankincense all over yourself every night?
if you inhale drano you will also get high.
just because it is perhaps mentioned in the torah, just because it is an old remedy and drug, does not mean it wont turn you into a stoner. alcohol in moderation does not effect brain activity like reefer does. there will always be those that will scream how safe something is because they enjoy it.
all i know is all my friends that do it even in moderation, act like slow brained idiots. relaxing yes, makes you slower, and less sharp in your ways of thinking? definitely
I smoked since I was 14 up until I was 24 TEN years! When I moved here, it was too much of a hassle to get compared to California, so I stopped. No side effects, no withdrawls, when you smoke it the next day you don’t feel like junk or get a hangover, it doesn’t damage your intestines, not addictive, besides alittle tar in the lungs (a very small fraction compared to one cigarette) and acting silly its a wonder flower! Flower power!!!
Like wow,man.
It’s sad to hear so many of you speak from ignorance. The stereotypical “pot head” from the movies or the “dope head crowd” is only a small portion of people who want legalization and smoke all this pot you are so fearful of. For those of you who oppose legalization, you would be very surprised to know that it is your friends and neighbors; people you love and care for, work with, etc; they’re just not saying anything to you b/c they have to hide it for fear of legal ramifications. Proponents for mj include medical professionals, law enforcement (L.E.A.P http://www.leap.cc/cms/index.php), as well as people from all walks of life who smoke regularly—just like one may have a martini
after work, or drink beer with their buddies at a bar-b-que. I think everyone posting here is speaking from ignorance and has never smoked, or you had a negative experience when you attempted to smoke Maybe you really did get some mj that was laced with a hard drug. Actually, legalization would null this problem as it would be regulated just like tobacco. Unfortunately mj proponents get lumped into this illicit group of hard drug abusers when the real reason mj is harmful is b/c of the legal ramifications due to it’s illegality. The repercussions that come from it being illegal end up lumping good people into a subcategory of harmful drugs abusers. Human beings have been smoking marijuana plant as long as the world has been in existence–that won’t ever change–but with education and widespread understanding of this plant and it’s effects would come acceptance, and as a result, we would effectively reduce prison overpopulation by removing non-violent drug offenders—only to make room for sex offenders who we allow to receive probation and live amongst us. I haven’t even covered how the medicinal benefits far outweigh the “harm” mj supposedly does. The homeopathic benefits provide relief to people who have to Alzheimer’s Disease, Arthritis, Chemotherapy, Crohn’s disease, Gastrointestinal Disorder, Epilepsy & Seizures, Glaucoma, Migraines, Multiple Sclerosis, Muscle Spasms, Tourette’s Syndrome, and terminal illness. The list goes on—in fact, it appears that many of you posting on this page would benefit from smoking a little mj yourself–!