Medical MJ in NY?!?

[JQP]

Medical marijuana bill now in both houses

Tuesday Apr 21, 2009 3:18 PM
By GREGORY JONES, Legislative Gazette staff writer



For the first time since legislation for medicinal marijuana was introduced in New York, identical bills will go before both the Assembly and Senate, potentially making it legal for patients with serious illness to use marijuana.

Joined by two patients who could benefit from the legislation, the Assembly and Senate Health Committee Chairs, Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, D-Manhattan, and Sen. Thomas Duane, D-Manhattan, announced today their support for a medical marijuana law.

“It is cruel to make seriously ill patients criminals for relying on medical marijuana for relief when their doctor recommends it,” Gottfried said. “I hope that the Senate and the governor will make this the year we protect patients from simply treating a serious problem.”

The bill (A.7542/S.4041) has passed the Assembly for the past two years, but no identical bill was introduced in the Senate. Gottfried is optimistic that the now Democratic Senate will act to protect medical marijuana patients from arrest.

“Medical marijuana’s safety and efficacy in treating certain painful, often life-threatening diseases is a well-documented scientific fact,” Duane said. “There is no reason we can’t establish common sense controls to ensure safe access to this medicine for suffering patients who have their doctors’ recommendations while ensuring it doesn’t wind up in the wrong hands.”

According to Gottfried, 13 states now have medical marijuana laws in place. The legislation for New York would allow patients to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana as well as be able to grow up to 12 mature plants.

“This is about medicine, not politics,” Duane said. He added that it should be up to medical science and not politics to decide the use of marijuana. Several other states are considering medical marijuana laws similar to New York, including New Jersey, New Hampshire, Minnesota and Illinois, according to Gottfried.

The bill has been referred to both houses’ health committees for review.

For a state like NY, renowned for the draconian Rockefeller drug laws, this is a good step in the right direction. The new administration already substantially eliminated the old Rockefeller drug laws earlier this year, and this news is almost unbelievable. The change in politics in NYS (Senate going from Republican to Democrat) is like a sea change here. Not all good, by any means, but obviously not all bad either!

JQ

 

[Chomp]

Here's a copy and paste of the Bill from the NYS assembly website:

A07542 Memo:

BILL NUMBER:A7542

TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the public health law and the general
business law, in relation to medical use of marihuana

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: Allows patient to use marihuana to
treat a serious illness under medical supervision.

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS: Section 1. Legislative findings and
intent

Section 2. Amends Public Health Law Article 33 by adding a new Title
V-A, Medical Use of Marihuana.

S3360 defines certified medical use, certified patient, certification,
designated caregiver, public place, serious condition, medical
marihuana, registry application, registry identification card, and
usable marihuana. A serious condition is defined as a severe
debilitating or life-threatening condition or a condition associated
with or a complication of such a condition, or its treatment.

S3361 allows a licensed practitioner (the defined term in the Public
Health Law for people who may prescribe controlled substances) to
certify that a patient has a serious condition that in the
practitioner's judgment can and should be treated with the medical use
of marihuana,. A copy of the certification will be placed in the
patient's medical records and the patient will get the original. A
prescriber is not allowed to certify medical marijuana for himself or
herself. A certification will be valid for a maximum of one year from
the date it is written.

S3362 allows the possession of up to two and one half ounces of
marihuana, and up to 12 plants, by a certified patient in possession
of a valid registry identification card, for medical use. A designated
caregiver may possess that amount for each patient for whom her or she
is the caregiver. Plants must be in an enclosed area equipped with a
security device and will be accessible only to the caregiver or the
patient. It would allow medical marihuana to be given or disposed of
to a certified patient only when nothing of value is exchanged.
However, registered organizations may be paid. Use of medical
marihuana is not allowed in a public place.

S3363 directs the Department of Health to issue registry
identification cards to certified patients and designated caregivers.
No individual shall be a certified caregiver for more than five
patients.

S3364 creates registered organizations for the purpose of acquiring,
possessing, manufacturing, selling, delivering, transporting or
distributing marihuana for certified medical use. A registered
organization may be a pharmacy; an Article 28-licensed facility
(hospital, clinic, etc.); a not-for-profit corporation organized to be
a registered organization; the Department; a local health department;
or a registered producer (an entity that produces marihuana, solely
for sale to other registered organizations).


S3365 establishes guidelines for the registering of registered
organizations. Allows the department to suspend or terminate and
registration on grounds, and using procedures under this article
relating to a license, to the extent consistent with this title.

S3366 requires registered organizations to report to the commissioner
all sales, deliveries or distributions of medical marihuana to
certified patients or designated caregivers during a particular
period.

S3367 requires the commissioner to apply to the United States
government for permission to implement sections 3364, 3365 and 3366 of
this title and states that these sections shall not be implemented
unless and until the state gets that permission or a change in federal
law makes it unnecessary.

New S3368 directs the Health Department to contract with a third party
to conduct an evaluation of the operation of the law.

New S3369 applies other provisions of Article 33 to this title. Where
a provision of this title conflicts with another provision of Article
33, this title applies. The bill does not require any public or
private health plan to cover medical marihuana. Re-states the rule
that reasonable good-faith actions in compliance with this title,
absent some other element, would not subject a person or entity to
criminal or civil liability or professional discipline.

Section 3 of the bill amends Section 853-g of the General Business Law
to allow for the sale, furnishing and possession of materials used in
the lawful administration of medical marihuana to a certified ultimate
user.

JUSTIFICATION: Thousands of New Yorkers have serious medical
conditions that may benefit from medical use of marijuana. The
National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine concluded in a
1999 report that "nausea, appetite loss, pain and anxiety. . .all can
be mitigated by marijuana." Doctors and patients have documented that
marijuana can be an effective treatment - where other medications have
failed - for at least some patients who suffer from HIV/AIDS, cancer,
epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and other life-threatening or
debilitating conditions. Although other drugs are more effective than
marijuana for some patients, the Institute of Medicine noted that
"there will likely always be a subpopulation of patients who do not
respond well to other medications." Medical marihuana must be
available to those patients.

The active ingredient in marijuana, THC, has been approved for medical
use by the Federal Food and Drug Administration and the Drug
Enforcement Agency since 1986 in synthetic pill form. But consuming it
in natural form - which many physicians say is more effective -
continues to be illegal. In an editorial in the January 30, 1997 New
England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Jerome P. Kassirer, editor of the
Journal, explained that inhaling THC is more effective than taking the
synthetic pill: "smoking marijuana produces a rapid increase in the
blood level of the active ingredients and is thus more likely to be
therapeutic." It also enables tighter control of the amount ingested.
According to the Institute of Medicine, "it is well recognized that


(the) oral route of administration hampers its effectiveness because
of slow absorption and patients' desire for more control over dosing."

Legalizing the medical use of effective medicine does not undermine
the message that nonmedical use of illegal drugs is wrong.

Many controlled substances that are legal for medical use (such as
morphine, Valium and steroids) are otherwise illegal. In the same New
England Journal of Medicine editorial, Dr. Kassirer argued that "it is
also hypocritical to forbid physicians to prescribe marijuana while
permitting them to use morphine and meperidine to relive extreme
dyspnea and pain."

The bill's provisions are consistent with other state laws relating to
the medical use of marihuana, and is most closely related to Rhode
Island's law, which passed after the June, 2005 Supreme Court
decision.

The bill amends the Public Health Law rather than the Penal Law
because the Penal Law's controlled substances provisions all relate
back to the Public Health Law. Thus, all the acts that the bill makes
lawful under the Public Health Law would, by definition, be legal
under the Penal Law.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
1997-98 : A.6407 - referred to Health
1999-00: A.8082 - referred to Health
2001-02: A.5878 - referred to Health
2003: A.5796 - reported to Rules
2004: A.57960-A - reported to Rules
2005-06: A.8265 - reported to Rules
2007-08: A.4867-A and -B - passed Assembly

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: Minimal administrative expenses, largely covered
by registration fees.

EFFECTIVE DATE: Sixty days after it shall become law.

 

[Chomp]

BTW........ F*CKING RIGHT ON!!!!!

 

[JJScorpio]

Here's an encouraging article....


http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/647328.html

Approval predicted for medical marijuana
State legislators likely to act this session
By Tom Precious
NEWS ALBANY BUREAU

ALBANY — Long-stalled efforts to permit the medicinal use of marijuana in this state appear to have a good chance of passage before lawmakers end their session in June. It would make New York the 15th state to legalize the drug for medical reasons.

Advocates say they believe the Democratic- controlled Senate and Assembly have the votes to pass legislation permitting qualified patients to grow their own marijuana plants, or obtain the drug on the streets or through a state-sanctioned dispensary.Gov. David A. Paterson also is said to be supportive of the legalization.

“It’s looking pretty darn good,” Assemblyman Richard N. Gottfried, a Manhattan Democrat and Health Committee chairman, said of the bill’s chance to become law this session.

The lawmaker, who has sponsored the measure for years, renewed a public push Tuesday, using the cases of two New Yorkers who have turned to marijuana to relieve their chronic pain as evidence of the need for the bill.

“I’m looking for all the help we can get to get this passed,” said Joel Peacock, a Buffalo resident and self-described conservative, who turned to the drug in the past to help with severe pain he still feels from a 2001 car accident.

The effort was jump-started by the Obama administration’s decision in February to stop raids on marijuana-dispensing centers in California, where medical marijuana is legal. U. S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. signaled that federal prosecution would cease in states that legalize medical marijuana, even though U. S. law bans the drug’s use.

The Assembly is considered certain to pass the measure. Advocates are working on the Senate Senate, where control switched in January to Democrats from Republicans.

In 2007, the measure had the backing of a half-dozen Republicans. Supporters say they fear as many as four Democrats, including Sen. William T. Stachowski, D-Lake View, might oppose it. That would require GOP help to get it passed in a chamber where Democrats hold a thin, 32-30 majority. Stachowski could not be reached to comment Tuesday.

Paterson’s office said the governor is not taking a stance on the bill, but sources described him as very supportive and said he even offered to introduce his own legislation legalizing medical marijuana.

Proponents say marijuana helps to relieve pain from such diseases as multiple sclerosis and to calm nausea, as well as to aid the appetite of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. The measure has the backing of groups representing physicians, nurses and hospices.

The association representing the state’s district attorneys has not taken a formal position on the bill, said Daniel Donovan, the Staten Island district attorney and president of the group.

Speaking for himself and not his organization, Donovan, said a number of other drugs — from methadone to oxycondone — have been legalized to help with such things as relieving pain. “I’m not opposed to the idea. I’m open to the idea of seeing studies — and will trust the medical field,” he said.

The most vocal opposition comes from the state’s small but influential Conservative Party, which helped to kill the 2007 bill in the Republican-led Senate.

“If this passes, this is the beginning of a slippery slope that opens the door to legalize drugs,” said Michael R. Long, the party’s chairman.

Long said patients have plenty of alternatives to marijuana for pain relief. He claimed a lack of controls to prevent marijuana prescribed for a patient from getting into the hands of the patient’s children or from being sold on the streets.

“This is not helpful to our society,” Long said.

But Peacock, the subject of a 2007 profile in The Buffalo News, said his pain medications cost him and his insurer $39,000 a year. Pulling a package of painkillers from his pocket Tuesday — which cost $26 a dose — Peacock said marijuana would be both cheaper and more effective.

Peacock, who is enrolled in the Conservative Party, used marijuana during a construction job in Louisiana several years ago and then in Florida. He does not use it now because it is illegal in this state. “It took the pain away. I was absolutely amazed,” he said Tuesday at a news conference in Albany.

Joe Gamble, a Liverpool resident, a former Army paratrooper and commercial pilot, turns to marijuana now to relieve his pain from multiple sclerosis. He called for “a little compassion.”

“It’s not for everybody, but it certainly does work for me,” he said.

Backers say this is the first time the Assembly and Senate have had the same versions of medical marijuana bills. They note its Senate sponsor — Sen. Thomas K. Duane, a Manhattan Democrat — is chairman of the Health Committee, which has oversight of the matter.

Duane predicted the bill will pass with Democratic and Republican backing, saying: “This is about compassion. This is about medicine. This is not about politics.”

The bill would make marijuana legal for those sanctioned by a physician with a “serious condition,” defined as a “severe debilitating or life-threatening condition or a condition associated with or a complication of such a condition or its treatment, including but not limited to inability to tolerate food, nausea, vomiting, dysphoria or pain.”

It permits the possession of up to 12 marijuana plants or 2z ounces of marijuana. Those approved for the program can grow the plants from seeds purchased in the illicit drug market or through state-approved dispensing centers. The centers also could dispense marijuana.

The bill calls for the state Health Department to play a role in regulating entities that produce and sell marijuana to eligible patients. Patients that violate the terms of the bill would be subject to stricter penalties than someone now caught possessing marijuana.

Those eligible to legally smoke the drug for medical reasons would be given a card good for a year before requiring new approval by a physician or an approved caregiver. Doctors could not prescribe marijuana for themselves.

Patients deciding to grow their own marijuana must keep it in a locked, enclosed area, such as a greenhouse or closet accessible only to the patient or caregiver. Patients could not smoke the drug in a public place, and no caregiver could be responsible for more than five patients approved for medical marijuana.

The bill allows the state to charge dispensers a fee, and the entities could be anything from a pharmacy to a hospital clinic to a registered marijuana producer. It does not require insurers to cover the treatments.

Critics have said wording that lets eligible patients get the drug on the streets will only encourage the illegal drug trade.

A growing number of states, including Minnesota, Illinois and New Jersey, are considering medical marijuana laws, especially after the Obama administration’s policy change on the issue. In November, voters approved the drug’s use in Michigan and Massachusetts.

t

 

[Chomp]

You're right...lol

 

[donny darko]

Comps
Hey this is not the type of talk we need around here and not the type I expected from you. You are generalizing a whole group of people with a unsubstantiated rude comment. We do not need to get in a battle between the upstate and downstate people here. And just to let you know there are plenty of well educated people in upstate that don’t feel the need to act like elitists. I for one growing up in upstate don't feel the need to run my mouth and act like I am better than others even with my Ivey league education.
peace darko

 

[JQP]

Apparently I missed something here Darko.

Anyways, I've read all the comments here, and where is the elitist stuff you mention? I just hope this bill passes into law and some doc verifies that I need weed for my arthritis.

JQ

 

[donny darko]

No big deal, I guess the comment I was referring to has been deleted. Yes this is some exciting stuff and a 12 plant limit in NY is surprising. Everyone needs to get a hold of their representatives.
peace darko

 

[DrPoison]

Wow...this is friggin' awesome news! Maybe we are not going to have to move to the west syde after all. Fingers crossed for this one passing. Hopefully the rediculous NY laws will start to change and we will stop seeing so many non-violent drug offenders getting locked up for insane amounts of time. Thank you God and all those who are helping make this happen and may this actually become a reality, rather than just a dream!