Earlier this year, the New Jersey State Assembly voted 48-14 to legalize medical marijuana. As the 14th state to pass such legislation, lawmakers have had the advantage of other’s mistakes: it’s the most restrictive bill in the nation. New Jersey hopes to avoid becoming the east coast version of Oakland, known as “Oaksterdam;” and despite the attraction of the massive tax revenues that keep the California pot clinics humming (there are 545 medical marijuana outlets in Los Angeles County alone, and not much control), New Jersey intends to keep the lid firmly on the pot.

Medical marijuana will be subject to the same state laws of New Jersey that govern the prescription of dangerous drugs with high street value, such as morphine-based painkillers, amphetamines, and tranquilizers. However, if your doctor (a specialist, not just any old doctor) wants to treat your illness with marijuana, or if a doctor has determined that you will die within the year, you will be able to start the process to receive your two (and only two) ounces of medical marijuana per month.

There will be rules (forget operating any heavy machinery, no using the medicine in public parks or beaches, and definitely no sharing). The list of chronic illnesses that qualify for treatment is so extensive that it makes marijuana seem no less than a miracle drug.

And perhaps, now that it will be filling coffers of government, we can finally start testing and experimenting with this natural remedy without fear of DEA agents grabbing the stash.