[420 Girl]

New Jersey - This week Gov. Jon Corzine is expected to sign into law a measure that will allow for the use of marijuana as prescribed by physicians. It will also give the Garden State a green crop of another kind Ð legal weed, making it the 14th state in the nation to legalize the drug for medicinal purposes.

Does it mean that New Jersey is going to plunge deep into the throes of reefer madness?

Those who have championed the cause, like Ken Wolski, Chief Executive Officer of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana-New Jersey, say that's not likely.

"It is of my professional opinion that marijuana is a safe, therapeutic agent for a wide variety of symptoms, diseases and conditions," Wolski said. "No drug is without risks. There is a slight potential for addiction, but it's certainly less addictive than many drugs currently prescribed by doctors."

He compared to the addiction factor on the level of that of caffeine. He claims many times the dangers associated with it are incurred by naive users.

"No one has ever died from an overdose of marijuana, so in that sense it's a lot less dangerous than something that's over the counter," Wolski said.

Earlier this month, both the Assembly and the Senate passed the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act with the Assembly passing the bill 48-14, and the Senate 25-13. Corzine's action this week would make New Jersey the 14th state to institute similar measures. Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington previously approved legalizing prescription marijuana.

Under New Jersey's legislation, strict limits would be placed on just who can possess the previously illegal substance.

Only residents of the state will be permitted to obtain it and only through one of six "alternative treatment centers." They will have to secure an ID card issued by the state Department of Health after being recommended by a physician.

Conditions that make a patient eligible to receive medical marijuana include HIV/AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, Lou Gehrig's disease and multiple sclerosis.


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