workaround

            var someJSON = '<?php

//php to escape the apostrophe's since people use them all teh time

            $retrack_jsondata = addcslashes($retrack_jsondata,'\'');
            echo $retrack_jsondata; ?>';

    <script type="text/javascript">
        jQuery(document).ready(function($){

// front-end js to disallow user input of characters that break the JSON when it is trying to be parsed:

            $('#journal-entry').keypress(function(e) {
                // Check if the value of the input is valid
                console.log(e.keyCode );
                var valid
                switch(e.keyCode){
                    case 34 : // "
                    case 91 : // [
                    case 92 : // \
                    case 93 : // ]
                    case 123 : // {
                    case 124 : // |
                    case 125 : // }
                            valid = false;
                    break;
                    default:
                            valid = true;
                    break;
                }
                if (!valid)
                    e.preventDefault();
            });
        });
    </script>