New Jersey Will Be 14th State to Legalize Medical Marijuana

Add another state to the list that may be allowing marijuana use for medicinal purposes.

New Jersey lawmakers approved a bill that would legalize marijuana use for people with chronic illnesses and it is likely to be approved by outgoing Gov. Jon S. Corzine before he leaves office next week. It took more than a decade of wrangling at the state house in Trenton before the bill was passed.

Advocates say that the law would be the most restrictive in the United States, allowing only doctors to prescribe marijuana and keeping patients from growing their own. But others are worried about the possibility of abuse and the message it sends to children.

"There are children at age 15, 14 who are using drugs or thinking about using drugs. And this is not going to help," said a New Jersey school counselor who was quoted in The New York Times.

New Jersey will be the 14th state to approve medical marijuana. The others are Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.