title: Can't use string as a HASH ref error when using perl JSON module to decode
body: <p>When I do:</p>
  
  <pre><code>use strict;
  use JSON;
  $json_ref = $json-&gt;decode($json_data);
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>My $json_ref structure is created with strings as hash refs. I view this via Data::Dumper, ie: </p>
  
  <pre><code>print STDERR "JSON: " . Dumper($json_ref);
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Is there a way to decode the JSON so it's not using strings as hash refs? Or do I just not enable stricts while working with JSON data in perl?</p>