LAWMAKERS TO WEIGH MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL

Making Drug Legal For Patients Headlines Busy Week For N.J. Legislature

TRENTON -- Legalizing marijuana for medical use, barring funeral
protests, weighing the death penalty and dissecting a dwindling fund
used to help out-of-work New Jerseyans are among varied topics to be
discussed by state lawmakers in the coming week.

The Senate health committee is scheduled to meet on Thursday to
discuss long-proposed but never-heard legislation that would allow
doctors to prescribe medical marijuana for patients with serious
illnesses. Sen. Joseph Vitale, the committee chairman said he expects
senators will only discuss the bill and hear from experts.

The bill is sponsored by Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-Union. It lists
cancer, glaucoma, HIV, AIDS, wasting syndrome, chronic pain, severe
nausea, seizures and persistent muscle spasms as among conditions
that would be eligible for medical marijuana usage.

"This is about compassion for people who are at their weakest or on
their deathbeds," Scutari said.

The National Academy of Sciences has found marijuana can help
patients with chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and AIDS wasting.

But such legislation is opposed by medical and law enforcement
groups. Terrence Farley, an Ocean County assistant prosecutor,
considers the bill a veiled bid to legalize drugs, while the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration, American Medical Association, National
Cancer Institute, American Cancer Society and National Multiple
Sclerosis Society reject medical marijuana use.

Though 11 states allow medical marijuana, in June 2005 the U.S.
Supreme Court ruled the federal government can prosecute people who
use marijuana no matter state law.

Other considerations

With the funeral protests ban, Assemblyman Jack Conners,
D-Burlington, introduced the bill after an anti-gay Kansas church
group began protesting funerals of soldiers killed in combat in Iraq.
The Westboro Baptist Church contends the deaths are God's vengeance
for American homosexuality.

"Families that lose a loved one who makes the ultimate sacrifice in
defense of this country must be spared such intrusions and
indignities,"Conners said. "It's reassuring that this legislation
will continue to move forward at an expedited pace."

The group hasn't protested in New Jersey, but has vowed to visit the
state soon.

The bill, which hasn't been considered by the Senate, has Gov. Jon S.
Corzine worried about free speech. The proposal would restrict
protest activities within 500 feet of funerals, funeral processions,
funeral homes or places of worship. It would make it a disorderly
persons offense to protest within an hour before to an hour after a funeral.