Pubdate: Thu, 09 Jan 2014
Source: Times Union (Albany, NY)
Copyright: 2014 Mitch Earleywine
Contact: http://www.timesunion.com/forms/emaileditor.asp
Website: http://www.timesunion.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/452
Author: Mitch Earleywine

ALLOW ALL HOSPITALS TO PRESCRIBE POT

Thanks so much for your editorial "Medical marijuana now," Jan. 7.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo's move to allow 20 hospitals to prescribe medical
cannabis for those with severe illnesses is certainly a step in the
right direction. Treating New Yorkers humanely should always be the
top priority. But citizens, particularly legislators, should know that
this is a bit like putting a Band-Aid on a gunshot wound.

The state Department of Health suggests that half of men and a third
of women will develop cancer at some time, with one in four deaths in
the state linked to cancer. Twenty hospitals simply cannot carry this
burden, and cancer is only one of many ailments that cannabis can benefit.

Giving all licensed physicians the chance to prescribe cannabis, as
they do with markedly more dangerous opiates, stimulants and
sedatives, could help the sickest of the sick heal more comfortably.
Twenty other states and the District of Columbia can do it. Why can't
we?

Mitch Earleywine Professor, psychology, University at Albany 
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