New Jersey legalizes prescriptions for marijuana

Since the law may not take effect for at least six months, the University is currently waiting on guidelines and rules from the state before developing its own plans for implementation.

“It would be premature to speculate about implementation before the state has determined an approach,” University spokesperson Cass Cliatt ’96 said in an e-mail.

In the coming months, University Health Services will work with local and state health officials to clarify the law’s rules in order to ensure effective application in the University setting, UHS Director John Kolligian said.

The law prohibits public use of marijuana, while University rules currently prohibit smoking in buildings.

The bill, sponsored by Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D) of Princeton, is more limited than medical marijuana laws adopted by other states.

New Jersey will not allow patients to grow their own marijuana plants. Instead, the state will distribute up to two ounces per month to people with a prescription. The state will also closely monitor distribution, as it currently does for medical opiates such as Oxycontin and morphine.

Unlike California’s more liberal law, which allows marijuana usage by anyone who holds a “written or oral recommendation” from a physician affirming that the patient “would benefit from medical marijuana,” the New Jersey law requires users to have identification cards.

Only patients who suffer from certain conditions — such as cancer, AIDS and multiple sclerosis — will be allowed to purchase the drug. In California, by contrast, common problems such as anxiety and chronic pain may qualify a patient to legally use marijuana.

The limit of two ounces per patient per month is intended to prevent the law from expanding the drug’s recreational use. This amount is significantly less than California’s eight-ounce or Oregon’s 24-ounce limits, but it is comparable to policies in Rhode Island and Vermont.

“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,” Gusciora told The New York Times last month.

After passing with a vote of 48-14 in the General Assembly and 25-13 in the State Senate with bipartisan support in both houses, the bill was signed into law by Corzine on Jan. 18. Four more states and the District of Columbia are expected to pass similar legislation this year.