Politics and Pot Collide in New Jersey

It looks like New Jersey's newly passed medical marijuana law won't take effect later this week, as originally expected. Is the delay simply a detail, or a stall tactic to allow new Governor Chris Christie to gut the law's impact?

Jersey appeared poised to become the nation's 14th medical marijuana state last year, when former Gov. Jon Corzine signed a law legalizing use of the plant for patients with serious medical conditions. The law was slated to go into effect on Thursday, July 1st. Now that there's a new governor, though, that July 1st start date looks unlikely.

Legislation introduced last week seeks to delay the the start date for medical marijuana in New Jersey until October 1, so that the state can figure out its methods of production and distribution. Unlike other states, New Jersey won't allow patients to grow the pot — that will be handled by the few approved distribution centers. Christie says the state needs the delay because these law's logistics aren't figured out yet, but he may be after more than just a fine-tuning of plans.

It's important to get the law's details right, as the other alternative is a state like Colorado, which started with fairly loose medical marijuana regulation but quickly had to clamp down — creating confusion and a difficult business environment. Or California, which has an unclear patchwork of laws composed of federal, state and local regulations.

But Christie might have other motivations. For example, he has called for amendments that would restrict production to just Rutgers University, and would require patients to visit state hospitals to acquire the drug. If Christie continues to erode the law before it take effect, it will diminish its intended impact — which is to provide safe, effective medicine to people suffering from cancer, AIDS, glaucoma and other serious ailments.

NORML says New Jersey's law, as written, would already be the most restrictive in the nation. It's important for lawmakers to work out the details, but why haven't they done that in the six months since the law was passed? This delay is suspicious, and restrictive amendments are threatening to gut the law.

Apart from California, when New Jersey's law goes into effect, the state will become the most populous medical marijuana state in the nation. It's important that the Garden State set an example of a medical marijuana policy that is safe, workable and effective.

Photo Credit: Torben Bjorn Hansen