On January 18, 2010, former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine signed the Compassionate Use of Medical Marijuana bill, which legalized marijuana prescriptions for patients with chronic illnesses such as cancer, AIDS, Lou Gehrig's disease, muscular dystrophy, and multiple sclerosis. The bill, passed by the state legislature the week before, does not allow patients to grow their own marijuana or use it in public. As of January 2012, sixteen states and the District of Columbia have legalized possession of marijuana for medical use.

Learn more about the laws governing medical marijuana from the JURIST news archive.