On Monday, both houses of the New Jersey Legislature gave their approval for a measure which would allow medical marijuana use, and the Governor has shared that he is all set to sign the bill.

The bill was approved by the Assembly, via voting, 48-14, and the Senate, on the other hand, voted 25-13 in favor. Governor Jon Corzine has confirmed that he would award his signature to the measure before leaving the office January 19.

The "Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana" bill is scheduled to take effect within 6 months, and it would make New Jersey the fourteenth American state to legalize marijuana use for medical purposes. The supporters of the bill said, during the legislative debate, that this would be the "toughest medical marijuana law in the United States".

"It does not make sense for many of New Jersey's residents to suffer when there is a viable way to ease their pain. But this is a responsible bill with enough oversight to prevent the abuses that have been reported in other states", said Assemblyman Reed Gusciora.

Opposes of the measure have, however, stressed that there are "too many loopholes".