New York
Related: About this forumA guide to NY’s medical marijuana law
Laura Nahmias
ALBANYThe State Legislature voted last week to legalize medical marijuana, making New York the 23rd state, along with the District of Columbia, to allow use of the drug for medical purposes.
Each state has unique restrictions on the drug, which remains illegal under federal law, and New York's program is particularly unique, in that it does not allow for smokable forms of the drug and sunsets after seven years.
>
1) Who can use medical marijuana in New York State?
New Yorks program would allow medical doctors to prescribe marijuana for about a half-dozen serious or life-threatening medical conditions: epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, A.L.S. (also known as Lou Gehrigs disease), Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, neuropathies, spinal cord injuries, cancer and HIV/AIDS. Within 18 months of the bill becoming law, the states health commissioner must decide whether to allow the drug for several other conditions: Alzheimers disease, muscular dystrophy, dystonia, post-traumatic stress disorder and rheumatoid arthritis. The list of conditions for which the drug can be prescribed is very narrow. That was intentionallawmakers and Governor Andrew Cuomo said repeatedly they didnt want New Yorks program to end up like Californias, where medical marijuana can be prescribed for milder conditions like chronic back pain.
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2014/06/8547773/guide-nys-medical-marijuana-law?top-featured-2
hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)BY JULIE NETHERLAND , GABRIEL SAYEGH
On Friday, New York became the 23rd state to pass a bill creating legal access to medical marijuana for patients with certain serious, debilitating conditions. Without question, this is a huge victory for New York patients with cancer, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy and other conditions who have been waiting many years for relief.
Still, the law leaves unchanged the unconscionable status quo in which tens of thousands of New Yorkers, most of them black and Latino, are put through the criminal justice system for mere possession of small amounts of marijuana.
And even within the context of medical marijuana, the legislation is the result of political compromises with the governor that were needed to gain final passage. Those compromises include serious limitations that will leave many patients behind and complicate implementation. It becomes clear that politics, not science, drove the final agreement.
For instance, the bill represents an extraordinary level of intrusion into the doctor-patient relationship by narrowly defining the list of conditions for which physicians can recommend marijuana for medical use.
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/medical-marijuana-joint-article-1.1838252