NJ No to Marriage Yes to Marijuana

Just days after the defeat of a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in the state senate, the New Jersey legislature voted Monday to pass the region's first medical marijuana bill by comfortable margins.

Under the bill, patients with severe illnesses could receive prescriptions to obtain up to two ounces of marijuana per month at one of six state-sponsored locations. Gov. Jon Corzine, who leaves office next Tuesday, will sign the bill.

According to The New York Times, the medical marijuana bill, one of the few on the East Coast, passed the state legislature despite controversy and opposition from Governor-elect Christopher Christie.

"The bill's approval, which comes after years of lobbying by patients' rights groups and advocates of less restrictive drug laws, was nearly derailed at the 11th hour as some Democratic lawmakers wavered and Governor-elect Christopher J. Christie, a Republican, went to the state house and expressed reservations about it," reported the Times.

In the end, the bill passed by 48-14 in the general assembly and 25-13 in the state senate.