Medicinal marijuana may be coming to Egg Harbor Township later this year, as a nonprofit group is planning to open one of the first treatment facilities in the state more than two years after the treatment was signed into law. The proposed site would be in an 85,000-square-foot leased building in the Offshore Commercial Park, off Delilah Road, about a quarter-mile west of the Garden State Parkway. Leo B. Schoffer, an attorney, long-time developer and philanthropist who sits on the Richard Stockton College board of trustees, owns the building. [continues 715 words]
TRENTON - The state Senate is scheduled to vote today on a bill that would decriminalize marijuana use for some medical purposes in New Jersey, and one of the bill's sponsors said he was taken aback by residents' reactions to the proposal. "I've been pleasantly surprised that the overwhelming response has been positive," said state Sen. Jim Whelan, D-Atlantic, who is sponsoring the measure with Sen. Nicholas Scutiari, D-Union, Somerset Middlesex. The New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act would require the state Department of Health and Senior Services to issue registration cards to patients who have been diagnosed with debilitating medical conditions. They would then be allowed to keep six marijuana plants and have an ounce of marijuana in their possession. [continues 438 words]
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." [continues 129 words]
N.J. Senate Measure Would Allow Chronically Ill to Own Six Plants, 1 Ounce TRENTON - New Jersey took a major step toward becoming the latest state to allow certain patients to use marijuana Monday, when the Senate's Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee approved the Compassionate Use Medicinal Marijuana Act by a vote of 6-1. Elise Segal, who testified in support of the legislation, said the committee's vote "really brings me to tears, not just for me as a someone suffering from multiple sclerosis, but as a registered nurse and for all the people that I've treated." [continues 605 words]
