TRENTON -- Gov. Jon Corzine tonight signed a measure making New Jersey the 14th state to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes, part of a flurry of bills the Democrat penned in his last full day on the job.

Corzine also signed legislation requiring chain restaurants to provide nutritional information to customers, ending state control of Camden, and adding new layers of accountability to the state’s higher education system. The governor stayed out of sight in his Newark office as the Statehouse was readied for Republican Gov.-elect Chris Christie, who takes office at noon Tuesday.

“I have enormous gratitude to the people of New Jersey for this decade of opportunity to serve,” said Corzine, a U.S. Senator before becoming governor. He has not revealed his future plans.

The marijuana bill (S119) is expected to take effect in six months. Only patients with specific illnesses would be permitted to get a prescription: cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS, seizure disorder, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as Lou Gherig’s disease), severe muscle spasms, muscular dystrophy, inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn’s disease and any terminal illness if a doctor has determined the patient will die within a year...

The law allows the state health department to include other illnesses when it writes rules implementing it.

The law has other restrictions, such as forbidding people from growing their own marijuana, ensuring it is dispensed through licensed “alternate treatment centers,” and requiring designated caretakers who retrieve the drug on behalf of someone severely ill to undergo criminal background checks.

“It means a lot to my family whether I can go sleigh-riding or not, or even just a day at the beach,” said Chuck Kwiatkowski, a 38-year-old multiple sclerosis patient from Hazlet who uses the drug. “It’s a great thing to not feel like a criminal anymore.”

Opponents said it would send the wrong message to children and promote crime.

The nutrition bill (S2905) requires franchises with more than 20 locations nationally to calculate the number of calories for all items they sell and post the information on all drive-through and indoor menu boards. The law takes effect in a year and will be enforced through fines. Restaurant associations and owners of chains, argued it would be too costly.

Corzine also signed an executive order that put the state Treasurer in charge of making sure New Jersey’s schools, counties and municipalities take full advantage of special borrowing tools created through the federal stimulus act. The Treasurer is now responsible for keeping an inventory and figuring out which local governments are not using their full allocation of bonds, and transferring those bonds to other areas or to the state, said Ed McManimon of the McManimon & Scotland law firm, which specializes in municipal finance.

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