Local Reps Speak Out on Medical Marijuana
Governor Andrew Cuomo is expected to announce plans this week to take executive action that would allow limited use of marijuana for medical reasons within the State of New York.
The announcement, made over the weekend and released by The New York Times, comes on the heels of Colorado’s new law, which made recreational marijuana use legal in that state on January 1.
The governor’s plan will name 20 hospitals across New York State that will be able to prescribe marijuana to patients with cancer, glaucoma or other diseases that meet standards to be set by the New York State Department of Health.
During the 2013 Legislative Session the State Assembly passed a Medical Marijuana Bill that stalled in the State Senate.
Cuomo’s plan, however, does not require the State Legislature because it uses a provision in the public health law that allows the use of controlled substances by patients with cancer, glaucoma, and other diseases.
The Antonio G. Olivieri Controlled Substance Therapeutic Research Program, at the root of Cuomo’s plan, was developed when Olivieri, a New York City councilman and state assemblyman, died in 1980 at age 39. Suffering from a brain tumor, he used marijuana to overcome some of the discomfort of chemotherapy, and until his death lobbied for state legislation to legalize its medical use.
Assemblyman David Buchwald (D-White Plains) and Assemblywoman Amy Paulin (D-Scarsdale) have been strong supporters of medical marijuana legislation.
“As a co-sponsor of the State Assembly’s bill to permit medical marijuana, and someone who voted for the bill this past year, I very much support Governor Cuomo’s initiative. It is time that we recognize that people with debilitating and often terminal illnesses deserve compassion. If medical marijuana can relieve some of the suffering of these patients, we should make sure they have access in a safe and orderly way,” Buchwald told The Examiner in an email.
In another email correspondence Paulin said: “I believe that Governor Cuomo is headed in the right direction by taking this action. The medical benefits that can be derived from marijuana are far too great to ignore any longer. There are so many people suffering from a variety of diseases where medical marijuana would make a huge difference in their quality of life. Of course there needs to be regulation and careful monitoring of how the drug is used. I have been an advocate of making medical marijuana legal in New York for some time, so if the governor is ready to make medical marijuana available at a limited number of facilities throughout the state, I wholeheartedly support his initiative. We will still need to pass legislation to help the thousands of patients that need specific strains of marijuana, such as children with Dravet’s Syndrome, but this is a good first step.”
Currently, some 20 states and the District of Columbia allow the use of medical marijuana.
