BACKERS OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA HOPEFUL IN N.J.

For years, an unusual coalition of advocates and lawmakers has worked
to legalize medical marijuana in New Jersey.

Last month, the group won its biggest victory to date when the Senate
approved a medical-marijuana bill in a bipartisan vote of 22-16. It
was the first time such legislation had made it past the committee
stage to a floor vote in Trenton.

Supporters of medical marijuana are hopeful the Assembly will follow
suit. Gov. Corzine has already said he would "absolutely" sign the
bill into law if it reached his desk.

"We're cautiously optimistic," said Roseanne Scotti, director of Drug
Policy Alliance New Jersey, which is lobbying in favor of the
legislation. "Most of the folks we've talked to at this point are
supportive of the bill. Their qualms, if they have any, are really
with the details - could we change this or that."

The legislation would allow patients found by a physician to have a
"debilitating medical condition" such as glaucoma, cancer, or AIDS to
have up to six marijuana plants and one ounce of usable marijuana.
Primary caregivers also would be permitted to possess marijuana. The
legislation would let the state Department of Health and Senior
Services issue identification cards to qualifying patients and caregivers.

Thirteen states allow the use of medical marijuana. Federal law
prohibits marijuana use, but most marijuana-related arrests are made
under state law, according to a statement accompanying the bill.
Pennsylvania does not allow medical marijuana, and its legislature has
not seriously debated the issue recently.

In the New Jersey Statehouse, where most votes fall along party lines,
the vote tally in the Senate on medical marijuana was noteworthy:
Senate President Richard J. Codey, who posted the bill, voted against,
along with some fellow Democrats, and five Republicans voted in favor.

Sen. Jim Whelan (D., Atlantic), a sponsor of the bill, said it was a
"good sign" the legislation made it through the Senate, where
Democrats hold a 23-17 majority.

"I think bills like this really require times and a change in
attitudes, frankly," Whelan said. "I think over time, people have come
to realize . . . there are some medicinal benefits to marijuana and
that we can do this."

One potential challenge to the legislation is that the members of the
Assembly face reelection this year.

Brigid Harrison, a professor of political science and law at Montclair
State University, said that meant Assembly members would be thinking
about how an opponent might spin a vote on the issue come campaign
season.

"Legislators do not want to feed potential opposition, particularly in
a legislative election in November, with something that in a 30-second
sound bite can be made to have a negative connotation," Harrison said.

Any vote on the issue could also feed accusations that lawmakers are
dealing with matters less important than the economy, she said.

On the other hand, with the election comes a postelection lame-duck
period, traditionally a time when controversial issues can slide
through with relatively little notice.

Harrison said states with far more conservative politics than New
Jersey had approved medical marijuana. In New Jersey, she said,
opponents have made medical marijuana appear to be the first step
toward the legalization of marijuana, rather than focusing on the
potential medical benefits.

Although the issue remains controversial, researchers generally
believe marijuana has some medicinal benefits. While the federal
government has approved some medications containing
tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC - the psychoactive ingredient in
marijuana - some researchers say certain patients, such as those
undergoing chemotherapy, might benefit more from marijuana than from
the THC drugs.

Sen. Gerald Cardinale (D., Bergen) is among many opponents who say
they do not mind allowing seriously ill patients to use marijuana. But
he said he believed the bill in its current form would allow too many
people access.

"What we're doing here by giving people plants to grow is a very
loosey-goosey approach to the whole question and opens the door to a
lot of mischief," he said. "Were those items addressed, I might have
voted for it.

"Marijuana is not a benign substance that a bunch of old fuddy-duddies
want to keep kids from using," Cardinale said. "There are very good
reasons to keep it illegal."

Cardinale, a dentist, said people growing marijuana would not know how
potent their plants were or how large a dose to take, for example.

Sen. Fred H. Madden Jr. (D., Gloucester), who also voted against the
bill, views the issue from the perspective of a former acting
superintendent of state police.

"In concept, I believe in the access to a limited number of people,"
Madden said. "I just believe that the language of this bill is so
broad that the threat of a problem in dispensing what is a gateway
drug is a problem."

On the other side of the issue, Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll
(R., Morris), who has been named the most conservative member of the
Legislature by New Jersey Monthly Magazine, is a sponsor of the
Assembly bill.

Carroll said he had never smoked a joint and did not drink
alcohol.

"I just don't believe there's such a thing as an evil plant," Carroll
said. "It seems to me our policy on this particular drug is founded
less on medical evidence than on ideology."

Carroll said that when his grandmother, whom he described as a "tough
old bird," was dying of cancer, doctors prescribed her a potent
cocktail of painkillers. "Why is that acceptable but marijuana not?"
he asked.

"I don't think the law should stand between a patient and his or her
doctor on something like this."

Many New Jerseyans apparently agree. A 2006 poll commissioned by Drug
Policy Alliance New Jersey of 700 registered voters found that 86
percent agreed that "seriously ill patients should have access to
marijuana for medical purposes if a physician recommends it."

The bill has also received support from organizations including the
New Jersey State Nurses Association.

The two South Jersey lawmakers who will decide if the
medical-marijuana bill is ever posted for a committee vote and then an
Assembly vote have taken cautiously worded positions.

Assemblyman Herb Conaway Jr. (D., Burlington), a physician who chairs
the Assembly's health and senior services committee, issued a
statement: "As a practicing physician, my personal opinion is to favor
compassion for people in difficult health circumstances. With that in
mind, as chairman of the Health and Senior Services Committee, I am
reviewing the bill and its details carefully and will be canvassing
the committee members as to their thoughts.

"Last year, I held an informational session on the bill. Now, I must
examine the subsequent amendments made to the bill against the
concerns expressed by the broad committee at the time of that hearing."

Derek Roseman, a spokesman for Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts Jr.
(D., Camden), said Roberts was "open to considering it as long as he
can be convinced that it will be carefully regulated and available
under medical supervision only to those with truly legitimate needs."

Jim Miller, 56, of Toms River, is working to legalize medical
marijuana in honor of his late wife, Cheryl, who suffered from
multiple sclerosis and was one the state's earliest proponents of
medical marijuana.

Miller said marijuana loosened her muscles enough to allow her therapy
to be effective.

"It made all the difference in the world," Miller said. "I couldn't
stand to see her suffer. I couldn't help my wife, I couldn't protect
her without it."