Medical Marijuana: Could New York State Be Next?

[weedshooter]

Following the New Jersey decision to legalize medical marijuana, it looks like New York cannabis activists say now is the time to push for similar legislation in the Empire State. Though New York City might be the marijuana arrest capital of the world, the state has "relatively liberal possession laws and actually passed a medical-marijuana law in 1980 but never put it to use," according to the Times. And considering the fact that 14 other states have already given medical marijuana the greenlight, Assemblyman Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan) says there's no reason why it shouldn't be New York's turn.

"I think that the main obstacle over the years has been the fear of many in public life to touch anything with drugs," said Gottfried, who hopes the bill will reach the floor in the next couple of weeks. "But I think the climate around the states has changed." Since 2000, medical marijuana bills have passed the Assembly with bipartisan support twice, though they both got hung up in the Senate. This year, Sen. Tom Duane (D-Manhattan) is planning to introduce a piece of legislation in the Senate almost identical to Gottfried's, which calls for legalizing the use of cannabis to "treat a serious illness under medical supervision," and distributing it to patients in maximum increments of 2.5 ounces from state-licensed dispensaries only.

"What is often surprising is that people tend to assume it's a controversial bill, and that's been an obstacle," Gottfried said. "But other than the state Conservative Party, there has been little to no resistance. Even public opinion polls show overwhelming support." Gottfried apparently has the support of some Democrats, as well as a handful of Republicans. Paterson hasn't announced his position on it yet, but according to past quotes he is believed to be a supporter. The same could be said about the New York Times, which for some reason saw fit to publish the online version of the story at 4:20 pm.

From the February issue, Nancy Rommelmann reports from the grand opening of the Cannabis Café in Portland, Oregon, the first restaurant where patients licensed by the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program can publicly use marijuana.

 

[igrowone]

good to keep this topic on our radar
we'll have to see what comes out for a NY MMJ bill
if it's like the NJ bill, in my opinion, they can keep it
which is a high restriction, dispensary only model

 

[cobcoop]

Hopefully you guys will have the right to grow your own, and not be forced to suck at the state-licensed teet.

 

[IC BUDZ]

Ive heard that massachucetts will be next they already had a hearing about it recently and 40 people spoke for medical marijuana and 1 spoke against it and he sounded like an idiot

 

[igrowone]

Ive heard that massachucetts will be next they already had a hearing about it recently and 40 people spoke for medical marijuana and 1 spoke against it and he sounded like an idiot

this provides with a bit of hope for NY
current trend in MMJ has been 'what did the last state do'
which has been NJ
note sure what Mass. may do, but hoping it's better than the NJ crap setup
at least that's my current impression of the NJ law, i'd love to proved wrong

 

[IC BUDZ]

Massachusetts officially decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana yesterday, but many police departments across the state were essentially ignoring the voter-passed law, saying they would not even bother to ticket people they see smoking marijuana.

'We're training our officers on it,' said Billerica's police chief, Daniel Rosa, 'and we will be enforcing it.'

One chief's view
"We're just basically not enforcing it right now," said Mark R. Laverdure, chief of police in Clinton, a Central Massachusetts town of about 8,000 residents, who said the law was so poorly written that it cannot be enforced. "You'll probably have a lot of officers that, unless there's a caller complaining about it, won't even bother with it. They probably handled a lot of it informally before and probably more so now."

Andrew J. Sluckis Jr., chief of police in Auburn, said his 39 officers would not be issuing $100 citations for possession of an ounce or less of marijuana, as required under the ballot initiative known as Question 2.

"If the Legislature enacts some changes, we'll be happy to do it in the future, but as it stands now we're not going to be issuing civil citations," he said. If an officer spots someone smoking marijuana, he said, "We will confiscate it and the person will be sent on their way."

"It is frustrating," he added, "because we have to deal with a law that is almost non-enforceable at best."

John M. Collins, general counsel for the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, said he had been fielding calls from dozens of members across the state who believe the law is so flawed that it is "going to become a joke."

The ballot question passed in November with 65 percent of the vote. Backers said they were frustrated that possession of small amounts of marijuana in Massachusetts was a criminal offense, punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $500. Those convicted of possession could also receive a criminal record that could taint their job prospects for years, the backers said. Under the ballot measure that took effect yesterday, possession of an ounce or less is a civil violation, punishable by a $100 fine, with no risk of a criminal record.

Police say they have two main problems with the law.

Many complain that their current citation books lack a check-off box for marijuana possession and they have yet to receive updated ticket books, although temporary forms are available through a state website.

More fundamentally, they complain that officers have no way of determining the identity of people they stop on the street for smoking marijuana. Before the law was changed, officers could arrest them, or threaten them with arrest to force them to show identification. Now, they say they cannot force users to show IDs, and cannot arrest them if they refuse to identify themselves. And they say there is no penalty if a marijuana user gives a false name to a police officer

 

[Koroz]

NY is doing something alright.. a whole bunch of BS is what they are doing by not allowing its patients to grow.

New York lawmakers are moving forward on legislation this year that seeks to enact legal protections for authorized medical marijuana patients.

Assembly Bill A. 9016 and its Senate companion bill, S. 4041 would allow state-qualified patients to possess up to 2.5 ounces of medical marijuana for therapeutic purposes. However, unlike the medical cannabis laws that have been enacted in 13 of 14 states, New York's proposals would not allow patients to legally cultivate their own medical marijuana.

Instead, the bills seek to establish not-for-profit facilities to manufacture and distribute marijuana to qualified patients. As introduced, A 9016 and S. 4041 define these patients as those diagnosed by their physician to be suffering "a severe of life-threatening condition, ... including but not limited to (an) inability to tolerate food, nausea, vomiting, dysphoria, or pain."

 

[igrowone]

NY is doing something alright.. a whole bunch of BS is what they are doing by not allowing its patients to grow.

same f'ing NJ bill, dressed up as a NY bill
you'll get a few registered patients, won't amount to shit
most will just buy their weed the same way they do now
or grow it
this is a tiny better wording than NJ's, still a piece of crap though

 

[bigdaddyc9]

My very life depends on this bill.I am dying a slwo death due to Oxycontins and the pain that will never go away.A recent DWAI for driving on my scripted meds was the straw that broke the camels back.Passed out at wheel and no ambulance called.Handcuffed for 6 hours.Way to treat an established chronic pain patient huh? BigD

 

[kweb1989]

hope my home state can and everyone in it can get their meds soon legally! I am here in NC and our bill seems pretty dang good, hope ours passes and you all too can get one like NCHB 1380... GOOD LUCK!

 

[JQP]

There was some kind of senate hearing in Albany today on the bill (like at 3 p.m.), but I have no idea what happened. If this thing passes, I gotta form a not-for-profit right away!

JQ

 

[igrowone]

There was some kind of senate hearing in Albany today on the bill (like at 3 p.m.), but I have no idea what happened. If this thing passes, I gotta form a not-for-profit right away!

JQ

i saw this was covered on local news, missed the spot though
think it was medical patients pleading for MMJ
don't bother with not for profit, this will be state operated dispensary system, likely by some connected interests

 

[JQP]

Bill passes out of Senate Committee 2/23/2010

Bill passes out of Senate Committee 2/23/2010

I thought I heard right!

Check it out: http://www.salem-news.com/articles/february242010/ny_medmj.php

Feb-24-2010 11:53 Medical Marijuana Bill Passes New York Senate Health Committee

Salem-News.com The New York State Assembly passed medical marijuana legislation in 2007 and 2008, but the issue has never gotten a Senate floor vote.

​

New York will see a different future under current legislation to bring their citizens medical marijuana.​

(NEW YORK) - Tuesday, the New York State Senate Health Committee passed S. 4041-B, the Senate’s medical marijuana bill. This marks the second consecutive year that the bill has gotten out of the Senate Health Committee.
The Assembly’s medical marijuana bill, A. 9016, passed the Health Committee last month and is now sitting in the Assembly Codes Committee.
“We applaud the New York Senate Health Committee members for doing the right thing and taking this important step toward protecting sick and dying New Yorkers from arrest or jail,” said Noah Mamber, legislative analyst with the Marijuana Policy Project.
“Let’s hope New York legislators will follow the lead of New Jersey, the state next door, which is about to become the 14th state to implement an effective medical marijuana law.”
The New York State Assembly passed medical marijuana legislation in 2007 and 2008, but the issue has never gotten a Senate floor vote.
For the first time in 2009, a Senate medical marijuana bill passed the Senate Health Committee, but progress stalled because of the Senate leadership struggle, which lasted until just before the legislature recessed.

 

[igrowone]

thanks for posting this, +rep
not optimistic on result, i suppose there will be some patients it will help

 

[Pseudo]

NY will fuck it up as they do with everything

 

[donny darko]

Yeah this bill is shit!!! While I guess it is good for the political officials and their friends like everything else in New York , because you better be hooked up with some people to get to open one if the states greedy ass don’t take over and sell it themselves.

 

[ZoeFresssh666]

well i hope it works out.

 

[igrowone]

what i love about the NJ and NY bills(assuming both pieces of shit were written by the same corporate whore) is dispensary only
they're trying to weasel in MMJ a bit at a time, it will start small, but it will grow, no money in small, and it is about MONEY
they will lighten up on the requirements over time, guess they think it's less risk politically this way
but in Cali the big stink is about the dispensary's, they're out in plain view, lot of people think of them as public nuisances
i think you need both patient cultivation and dispensary, some people need the dispensary system
but all this will happen well after, just locks in a more expensive system for the short term, which is what some pricks want
end of vent

 

[JQP]

what i love about the NJ and NY bills(assuming both pieces of shit were written by the same corporate whore) is dispensary only
they're trying to weasel in MMJ a bit at a time, it will start small, but it will grow, no money in small, and it is about MONEY
they will lighten up on the requirements over time, guess they think it's less risk politically this way
but in Cali the big stink is about the dispensary's, they're out in plain view, lot of people think of them as public nuisances
i think you need both patient cultivation and dispensary, some people need the dispensary system
but all this will happen well after, just locks in a more expensive system for the short term, which is what some pricks want
end of vent

I agree with igrowone. One step at a time. I can't believe it's even happening, bad as the bill is. I sure would like to be a legal grower someday...

JQ

 

[Pseudo]

"squints" patterson already has 3 bedrooms in the governors mansion lined with poly and windows blacked out