Pubdate: Fri, 20 Jun 2014
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2014 The New York Times Company
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Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Jesse McKinley

CUOMO AND TOP LEGISLATORS REACH A DEAL TO ALLOW MARIJUANA FOR MEDICAL USE

ALBANY - Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and legislative leaders announced an 
agreement on Thursday for a pilot program to provide access to 
marijuana to sick New Yorkers, making the state one of the largest to 
embrace the drug's use as medicine.

The announcement came after days of intense negotiations between the 
Legislature and Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, who had proffered a more 
restrictive system earlier this year that was roundly criticized as 
unworkable for thousands of potential patients.

The new agreement included a major demand of the Cuomo 
administration: that no smoking of the drug would be permitted, 
though a variety of other options - including edibles and tinctures - 
would be. Patients would also be allowed to inhale if the drug was 
vaporized, similar to e-cigarettes.

"There are certainly significant medical benefits that can be 
garnered; at the same time, it's a difficult issue because there are 
also risks that have to be averted," Mr. Cuomo said, mentioning 
safety and law enforcement concerns. "We believe this bill strikes 
the right balance."

The State Health Department would oversee the program, which would 
contain a provision to "pull the plug" on it at any time, Mr. Cuomo 
said. He called that necessary to protect public health and public 
safety, adding that it "increases my comfort level a great deal."

A small number of diseases would qualify patients for medical use, 
including AIDS, cancer, epilepsy and several serious degenerative conditions.

The department would have up to 18 months to establish regulations 
governing medical marijuana, such as identifying the entities 
permitted to dispense it, though it is possible that doctors may be 
trained and allowed to recommend the drug before then. Initially, 
five organizations - both businesses and nonprofits - would be 
allowed to dispense marijuana, each at up to four locations around 
the state. The drug would be grown in New York and sales of it would 
be taxed at 7 percent.

More than 20 states now allow patients access to marijuana as a 
palliative to counter the effects of treatment like chemotherapy, or 
to alleviate symptoms like seizures. Most allow smoking, but Mr. 
Cuomo had made it clear that would not be permitted.

Lawmakers who fought for the bill said the compromise was in the best 
interests of patients, particularly children for whom the drug could 
provide relief.

"You can't stand in the way, because there's other delivery methods 
that are effective," said State Senator Diane J. Savino, a Democrat 
who represents parts of Staten Island and Brooklyn and who is the 
sponsor of that chamber's bill. Ms. Savino added that the governor 
"gave a lot of that we wanted."

The Assembly has passed bills in support of medical marijuana five 
times, most recently in May, only to see the measures die in the 
Senate, where Republicans were cool to the idea.

In recent weeks, however, several Republicans joined Democrats in 
voicing support for Ms. Savino's bill.

The Senate Republican leader, Dean G. Skelos, said the bill would be 
voted on and passed on Friday.

On Thursday, parents and other supporters - including some with 
children in wheelchairs, and others visibly with degenerative 
conditions - pleaded for the bill's passage. "Please pass this act," 
said one parent, Tim Emerson, whose 7-year-old daughter, Julia, has 
epilepsy. "Please help our kids."

Despite acknowledging its emotional pull, Mr. Cuomo said that he was 
wary of allowing marijuana to become too widely or too easily 
available. In recent days he said he feared that it was "a gateway 
drug," and observed that the state was already dealing with a 
resurgence of heroin use.

On Thursday, however, Mr. Cuomo seemed to hold out the possibility 
that adjustments could be made by the Health Department in the future 
to allow for changing circumstances, including an increased need for the drug.

"It's a knob: You can turn it up, you can turn it down," he said, by 
tinkering with the number of dispensaries or diseases for which 
treatment with marijuana is permitted.

The bill also contains a clause that would end the program in seven 
years unless lawmakers reauthorize it.

Supporters of the drug's medical use hailed the agreement as a step 
forward, while criticizing the absence of smoking among the permitted 
ways of administering marijuana. Some supporters say that smoking the 
drug allows for a greater degree of control over dosage.

"New York has finally done something significant for thousands of 
patients who are suffering and need relief now," said Gabriel Sayegh, 
the New York director of the Drug Policy Alliance, which lobbies for 
more liberal drug laws. But he added, "The decision about the mode of 
administration for any medication should be left up to doctors and 
their patients."

As for the possibility that the program might be shut down by the 
governor - or future governors - at any time, Ms. Savino said the 
tight "seed-to-sale" controls over the program would make such a move 
highly unlikely.

"That will never happen," she said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom