Medicinal marijuana debate picks up; could NY and MA be next in line?

New Paltz, NY – For years, the debate over the merits of marijuana use for medicinal purposes has made headlines, but action to legalize that use has moved at a relatively slow pace. WAMC's Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Greg Fry takes a look at how comments made this week could be a sign that more action is on the way...

On Tuesday, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced that his state's medical marijuana program would move forward. The state's former Governor, Jon Corzine, signed a measure into law allowing for the purchase of marijuana for medical purposes. Christie says the program in that state will prevent the abuses that have taken place in states like California. The former U-S Attorney also said that he thought about whether he would've pursued legal action based on federal laws, and determined that he would not have.

There have been mixed signals on the federal level. The Drug Enforcement Administration recently said that marijuana has no acceptable medical use. Morgan Fox with the Washington DC based Marijuana Policy Project says interested states were moving forward with implementing programs up until the past month. Fox says it appears that the federal government was taken a hard-line stance against medicinal marijuana. However, he says federal policy has never indicated that prosecutions of those using or selling medicinal marijuana would take place, as long as state law was followed.

New Jersey's headlines regarding the distribution and use of medical marijuana have raised questions in other states. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was asked Wednesday about his position on potential legalization. Cuomo says they are talking to those on both sides of the issue, and reviewing it, but says they have no final position.

Cuomo has not supported the idea in the past, due to concerns that the dangers would outweigh the benefits. Lawmakers have pushed for adoption of such a measure, which has previously gained approval in the State Assembly and not the State Senate. The latest lawmaker to publicly raise the topic in New York was downstate Senator Diane Savino, who Wednesday said that the state needs to follow New Jersey's example, and allow doctors to prescribe medical marijuana when no other option is available.

There's movement in Massachusetts as well. A Boston Herald article Thursday states the intentions of groups like the ACLU to push for the long-debated adoption of medicinal marijuana use through a ballot question in 2012.

Fox says with all the problems on the table, prohibition of marijuana use starts to look a little bit ridiculous. He says as long as states go forward and regulate programs, and as long as there is a clear definition of what is and is not legal, then he believes a lot more states will join New Jersey.

This year, Vermont lawmakers adopted a measure, allowing for four state-run and licensed dispensaries to operate throughout the state.