-- New York became the latest state to
permit the use of medical marijuana on Monday.
At a news conference in New York City, Gov.
Andrew Cuomo signed the Compassionate Care
Act, which allows doctors to prescribe marijuana
in a nonsmokable form to patients with serious
ailments that are recognized by the state on a
predefined but flexible list of conditions.
The bill was passed by the State Assembly and
Senate in June, said Jason Elan, a spokesman for
Sen. Diane Savino, a sponsor of the bill.
Cuomo said Monday that it was difficult to
develop and pass the bill because it needed to
embrace increased medical acceptance of
marijuana while rejecting situations and
conditions that state legislators said could have
"good intent and bad results."
"There is no doubt that medical marijuana can
help people," Cuomo said Monday. "We are here
to help people. And if there is a medical
advancement, then we want to make sure that
we're bringing it to New Yorkers."
Senate Co-Leader Jeffrey D. Klein said the
"patient-centric program" will provide relief to
thousands of people and will be "one of the
safest, most tightly regulated medical marijuana
programs in the country."
The legalization of medical marijuana has had
"overwhelming support" in state polls, State
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has said in a
statement.
Cuomo has said the act included criminal
penalties in case a person tries to defraud the
system, as well as a "fail safe" mechanism
allowing the governor to "suspend the program at
any time on recommendation of either the State
Police Superintendent or the Commissioner of
Health if there is a risk to the public health or
public safety."
New York will be the 23rd state, along with the
District of Columbia, to allow medical marijuana
in some form, according to information compiled
by the National Conference of State Legislatures .
Among the states that allow medical marijuana
are Connecticut, Vermont and New Jersey, each
of which borders New York.
The momentum has picked up recently, with most
of these efforts taking effect over the past
decade.
A proponent of the measure, Missy Miller of Long
Island, said she considered moving to California
to gain access to a special strain of marijuana
called Charlotte's Web oil, a derivative that may
help cease her son Oliver's seizures.
Oliver, 14, suffered a stroke in utero that resulted
in a brain stem injury. Among several other life-
threatening consequences are seizures,
sometimes more than a dozen a day.
"I am extremely relieved and proud to have been
a part of helping bring necessary change that so
many of us need," Miller said.
But "I am quite concerned about the 18-month
implementation, though, because Oliver does not
have that time to wait. I am hopeful that some
kind of expedited access plan can be worked out
to help those with urgent need like Oliver."
Opponents of the measure have said it was driven
by politics.
"I think serious questions can be raised about
using a political vehicle to achieve the use of a
prescribable medication in America," William
Foster, president of the National Council on
Alcoholism and Drug Dependency, told CNN when
the plan was unveiled in January.



http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/07/health/new-york-medical-marijuana/index.html?sr=fb070714NYlegalpot7pvodtoplink

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