Several days after a New Jersey lawmaker called on his fellow politicians to explain delays in prescription pot dispensary development, a report indicates that marijuana is being grown in the state.
President Obama pledged during his 2008 campaign to take a hands-off approach to medical marijuana, but four years later raids and other tactics have forced as many as 200 medical-marijuana growers and distributors to cease operations, resulting in sharp criticism from likely voters and fellow Democrats.
The garden state is about to get a whole lot greener. New Jersey has issued its first permit to grow medical marijuana legally. The permit was issued to nonprofit Montclair-based Greenleaf Compassion Center on Monday.
[img_assist|nid=29677|title=|desc=What once was a smoke shop is now slated to be the Greenleaf Compassion Center located at 395 Bloomfield Avenue n Montclair. The store is seen prior to its renovation. After a series of bureaucratic and political delays, one out of the six medical marijuana dispensaries is slowly gaining some traction.
Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon wants to stop local governments from attempting to circumvent a state law that permits medical marijuana facilities from sprouting in their towns.
Despite a federal crackdown on California's medical marijuana industry, the restrictive nature of New Jersey's pot program means it's probably safe from federal threat.