Pot promoters blast governor's medical restrictions
New Jersey medical-marijuana backers say Gov. Christie, a former prosecutor, would make pot unfairly difficult for sick people to buy.
New Jersey's marijuana lobby says the administration of anti-drug Gov. Chris Christie, the state's former federal prosecutor, is going too far with draft regulations restricting pot use under predecessor Jon Corzine's medical-marijuana law.
The goal of the state's new regs "is to provide the least amount of relief to the least number of patients," complained pro-drug lobbyist Roseanne Scotti of the Drug Policy Alliance New Jersey in a statement.
Under the state's plan, marijuana distribution is limited to four sites where patients on chemotherapy, anti-AIDS and multiple sclerosis drugs can score a legal stash from weed grown at two as-yet undetermined locations.
Scotti and fellow marijuana backers also objected to the $100-a-year patient fee.
Christie is trying to avoid the situation in drug-friendly states like California, where state-tolerated pot shops have sprouted in many communities, and pro-pot doctors gave marijuana prescriptions to patients with vague symptoms.