Monday, March 02, 2009
By TRISH G. GRABER
tgraber@sjnewsco.com
GALLOWAY TWP. – They’re against abortion.

Not keen on gay marriage.

And ready to change the makeup of the New Jersey Supreme Court.

But three Republican candidates for governor clashed Friday over the legalization of medical marijuana, a proposal that moved closer this week to becoming law.

Former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie said as “a former law enforcement guy,” he believes more controls are needed over how marijuana would be distributed so that it doesn’t end up on the streets.

Former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan called it a “freedom and liberty” issue, saying that he wholeheartedly supports the proposal.
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WASHINGTON (AFP) — Amid grim news of record deficits unveiled in the US budget, marijuana advocates are welcoming legislation in US states they say could blossom into billions of dollars in tax revenue.

San Francisco state lawmaker Tom Ammiano introduced a bill last Monday projecting a 14-billion-dollar tax base for the full retail treatment — buying, selling and growing cannabis.

The leading legalization advocacy group behind Ammiano’s bill, Washington-based National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), says recession is prompting otherwise skeptical state houses to revisit the ban on marijuana.
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By Robert S. Hong and Alfred Lee, Staff Writers
Pasadena Star-News

PASADENA – On a recent rainy morning, Liz McDuffie was lecturing about a dozen students inside a classroom at her Medical Cannabis Caregivers Directory on Mentor Avenue.

She went over the the maze of legal issues surrounding the use and sale of medical marijuana, discussed the process involved in becoming a “primary care provider,” and she spelled out the risks of operating a medical marijuana dispensing business.

“This is a new industry that’s going to turn California around, and you’re it,” she told her students.
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