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<p class=MsoNormal>Common sense takes a step forward in another state.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Judy<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<h1>New Jersey Assembly Approves Medical Marijuana <o:p></o:p></h1>
<p class=MsoNormal>By <a
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/k/david_kocieniewski/index.html?inline=nyt-per"
title="More Articles by David Kocieniewski">DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Published: January 11, 2010 <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>The New Jersey Assembly approved a measure on Monday that would make the
state the first in the region and the 14th in the nation to legalize the use of
<a
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/m/marijuana/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier"
title="More articles about marijuana.">marijuana</a> for medical reasons. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>The measure was to be voted on by the State Senate later in the afternoon,
the final day of the legislative session. If passed, it would allow patients
diagnosed with severe illnesses like <a
href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/cancer/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier"
title="In-depth reference and news articles about Cancer.">cancer</a>, <a
href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/aids/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier"
title="In-depth reference and news articles about AIDS/H.I.V..">AIDS</a>, <a
href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/muscular-dystrophy/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier"
title="In-depth reference and news articles about Muscular dystrophy.">muscular
dystrophy</a> and <a
href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/multiple-sclerosis/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier"
title="In-depth reference and news articles about Multiple sclerosis.">multiple
sclerosis</a> to have access to marijuana distributed through state-monitored
dispensaries. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Gov. <a
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/jon_s_corzine/index.html?inline=nyt-per"
title="More articles about Jon S. Corzine.">Jon S. Corzine</a> has said he
would sign it into law before leaving office next Tuesday. Gov.-elect <a
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/christopher_j_christie/index.html?inline=nyt-per"
title="More articles about Christopher J. Christie.">Christopher J. Christie</a>,
speaking at a press conference on Monday before the vote, reiterated his
support for legalizing the medical use of marijuana as long as the final bill contained
safeguards to ensure that it did not end up encouraging the recreational use of
the drug. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, a Democrat from Princeton, said the New Jersey
law would be the most restrictive in the nation because it would only permit
doctors to prescribe it for a list of serious chronic illnesses. The
legislation would also forbid patients from growing their own marijuana and
using it in public, and it would regulate the drug under the strict conditions
used to track the distribution of medically prescribed opiates like <a
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/oxycontindrug/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier"
title="Recent and archival health news about Oxycontin.">Oxycontin</a> and
morphine. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>“I truly believe this will become a model for other states because it
balances the compassionate use of medical marijuana while limiting the number
of ailments that a physician can prescribe it for,” said Mr. Gusciora,
who sponsored the bill. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Mr. Christie said he wanted to make sure that New Jersey did not follow the
path of other states that have legalized the medical use of marijuana. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>“I think we see all what’s happened in California,” Mr.
Christie said. “It’s gotten completely out of control.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Opponents of the New Jersey bill often use California’s experience as
a cautionary tale, saying that medical marijuana is so loosely regulated there
that the state has essentially decriminalized the drug. Under California law,
residents can legally obtain marijuana to treat a list of maladies as common,
and undefined, as <a
href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/stress-and-anxiety/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier"
title="In-depth reference and news articles about Stress and anxiety.">anxiety</a>
or chronic pain.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>The New Jersey Senate last year passed a less restrictive version of the
proposal, which led opponents of medical marijuana to predict that it would
pave the way for California-style “pot centers.” David Evans,
executive director of the Drug Free School Coalition, said that such centers
would make marijuana more readily available on the streets and lead to an
increase use of drugs by teenagers. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>But after conference hearings among legislative leaders, both chambers
agreed on a more stringent bill. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>As the legislators prepared to vote on the measure, more than a dozen
chronically ill patients rallied at the State House to urge lawmakers to pass
it.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>One of them, Scott Ward, who said he suffered from multiple sclerosis, said
he had been prescribed marijuana to alleviate <a
href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/leg-pain/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier"
title="In-depth reference and news articles about Leg pain.">leg cramps</a> so
severe that they often “feel like my muscles are tearing apart” and
that leave him virtually unable to walk. Other prescription drugs either failed
to ease the pain or left him so groggy he could do little more than sleep, Mr.
Ward said. But when he followed his neurologist’s advice and treated his
pain with marijuana, Mr. Ward said, the pain went away.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>“I could do normal things like walk the dog,” said Mr. Ward, 26.
“It made a huge difference in my life.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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