Pubdate: Mon, 13 Jan 2014
Source: Saratogian, The (NY)
Copyright: The Saratogian 2014
Contact:  http://www.saratogian.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2100
Authors: Jennifer Peltz and David B. Caruso, The Associated Press
Page: A7

GOVERNOR TAKES CAREFUL STEP ON MEDICAL POT

NEW YORK (AP)- Gov. Andrew Cuomo made a political splash by
introducing his medical marijuana plan in the State of the State
speech, but his cautious approach has met muted cheers from pot
advocates who question how meaningful it really is.

While nearly two dozen states have OK'd marijuana for medical purposes
and Colorado and Washington have legalized its use for pleasure, Cuomo
is tapping a 1980 state law to allow as many as 20 hospitals to
dispense the drug to people with certain severe illnesses as an
experimental research project.

"I'm absolutely thrilled that he's actually verbalized the words
'medical marijuana,' but he's just got to go further," said Susan
Rusinko, a 52-yearold central New York resident who said a hit of pot
is a "wonder drug" that relaxes immobilizing leg spasms from her
multiple sclerosis. It's unclear whether she would even qualify for
Cuomo's initiative or whether there would be a participating hospital
near her.

While advocates are frustrated, Cuomo's limited embrace of medical
marijuana may be a politically astute and scientifically sensitive
move on an issue on which popular enthusiasm has outpaced a weak body
of research, experts say.

Some doctors avidly back using cannabis to treat problems ranging from
chemotherapy-related nausea to chronic pain, but other medical experts
say there are good reasons for caution. While the marijuana plant
holds tantalizing possibilities, they say, it's still a question mark.

Cuomo's initiative is styled as a test of whether pot can be
effectively used as medicine without being abused.

Under his plan, people with cancer, glaucoma and possibly some other
"life-threatening or sense-threatening" conditions could seek to get
marijuana through studies based at hospitals yet to be named, with
"stringent research protocols and eligibility requirements."

Cuomo's initiative bypasses a state Legislature that has weighed but
failed to pass more ambitious medical marijuana laws. He's relying
instead on his administrative powers to carry out a 1980 law allowing
medical marijuana research.

Then California took a broader step, voting in 1996 to let doctors
recommend cannabis for various conditions. Nineteen other states have
since enacted medical marijuana laws. While the federal government
hasn't OK'd the plant for pharmaceutical use, federal prosecutors were
told in 2009 not to focus on people using the drug medically.

Critics feel medical marijuana is an entree to more recreational use
of a drug that was widely outlawed in the U.S. in the 1930s. "I think
it sends the wrong signal to our young people," said Michael Long,
chairman of the New York Conservative Party.

Supporters say the marijuana plant is effective against various
ailments, including backaches, anxiety and seizures.

Carly Tangney-Decker isn't waiting for answers. She and her husband
believe a particular strain of marijuana available through a Colorado
dispensary could help their 8-month-old daughter, Mabel, who suffers
from a genetic seizure disorder.

While doctors didn't recommend the marijuana treatment, the mother
said, Mabel's neurologist supported the family's quest for
alternatives to medications that aren't approved for regular use in
infants and could cause permanent vision damage.

"People say that marijuana is a gateway drug," said Tangney-Decker, of
Kingston. "Well, people in my situation consider it an exit drug to
take us away from all the other drugs."

So she and baby Mabel are moving to Colorado next week.
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