June 12, 2007
Medical Marijuana Legislation for New York?
Can it be? The Sun reports that the Assembly "could pass a medical marijuana bill" this week, and the Senate will do the same. The lead sponsor of the Assembly's bill is Manhattan Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, who said, "There are thousands of New Yorkers who suffer from serious medical conditions who could have a better quality and longer life."
Various people, including Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau and Montel Williams, have supported the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes for the past few years, but NY State backed away from passing a law when the Supreme Court allowed the prosecution of medical marijuana in 2005. The Sun points out that now, with a medical marijuana bill on the Connecticut governor's desk, momentum has been growing for states to determine medical marijuana legislation. However, it's unclear whether Governor Spitzer will sign any bills - he surprised many people last year when he voiced opposition to medical marijuana.
For more information, check out the Marijuana Policy Project's NY state page. This spring, a 71-year-old cancer survivor was arrested for buying pot, which she credits with helping her appetite. The Bronx DA didn't press charges, claiming a lack of the proper paperwork.
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i can't wait, i'm totally sick. sick of these fucking pot laws! not that weed is really hard to find, heh.
Spitzer is competing with the Democrat led Congress for Biggest Disappointment of the 2006 Election.
My glaucoma is acting up.
It's about time.
OF COURSE Richard Gottfried is the lead sponsor!
RICHARD GOT FRIED is his name!
hooo ho ho hahaha.
This is certainly a Modest Proposal. What's next, cocaine for the morbidly obese?
Kidding.
This should happen ASAP! Not that we will have coffeeshops like Amsterdam, unfortunately. I mean, anyone can find weed now if they want, but the thing would be that we coudl carry it without fear of being arrested. Many times I had some in my bag and just hoped the cops wouldn't be searching bags at the subway station. I can't wait, but unfortunately, this is up to politicians and not the general public! Why? Because New York does not have Initiatives & Referendums which would put the power into the hands of the people!
In 1999, Governor George Pataki in his first “State of the State” address called for the establishment of the initiative and referendum process, however, the state legislature wasn’t interested in supporting establishing the process. In 2002, Pataki once again called for the legislature to pass a constitutional amendment establishing the initiative and referendum process. The proposal was strongly supported by the state’s Independence Party, Conservative Party and Republican Party. In April , the New York Senate passed the initiative amendment with only three dissenting votes. However, as of the writing of this history, the State Assembly had not acted on the Governor’s proposal.
We need to be able to vote on what we want and not what some PC politician in Albany thinks is right for us (or his re-election campaign)!
This is why so many western states are so progressive and New York state is so regressive!
Canada is an hour away, Jamaica: three and a half hours. Amsterdam around nine. Take your pick!
Plus there are plenty of places in NYC to get your 420 delivery I'm sure. Most people who get caught are somewhat careless anyway.
"Most people who get caught are somewhat careless anyway." That is sooo not the point. Much like the failed prohibition against booze, all of the problems with cannabis stem from its legal status, a status brought on through the tireless/shameless publicity efforts of Mr. Anslinger and Mr. Hearst. It's high time (hee hee) we realize that we can never effectively legislate against objects or ideas, only acts.
New York is one of the fakest "progressive" states out there. It's a city and state full of people who desperately claim they're "totally liberal, man" and then proceed to watch and cheer along as their elected officials over-regulate everything (Smoking Ban? Aluminum Bats? Dancing laws? Trans-fats?).
It's easier for underage kids to get weed then it is for them to get beer. It's a joke... but God forbid we let someone dying of cancer get high. Holy crap... end of the world... what will the children think?!
I have a prescription in California for medical marijuana, for which I am grateful. I have a serious incurable genetic chronic disease, Ulcerative Colitis, that is life debilitating, and has almost killed me twice. I have been hospitalized several times (sometimes for month at a time), and spent time in ICU. This disease has changed my life so drastically in ways I won’t bore or disgust you with right now.
I have been to the best specialists in the world (my medical bills have exceeded one million dollars; luckily I have insurance) who have prescribed many medications: prednisone (ruined many of my relationships due to severe mood swings), remicade infusions (those suck), azathyoprine, 6MP, asacol, rowasa, canasa, colazal, and numerous others. I have tried acupuncture, diet changes, Chinese medicine, yoga, Balinese Black Magic, everything I can find. Many of these things have helped at times, but when I am very ill, THE ONLY THING THAT HELPS ME TOLERATE MY PAIN, DECREASE MY COLON INFLAMATION, AND ALLOWS ME TO EAT WITHOUT NAUSEA IS MARIJUANA. It not only makes me feel better, but it actually makes my physical symptoms go away.
I am 6'-5", and the last time I was hospitalized I weighed 122 pounds. The medicines prescribed by my doctors help to prevent me from getting sick, but don’t always work. However, once I am sick the ONLY medicine that really works is marijuana, which is also the only thing that helps me combat the severe side effects of my conventional medications.
Now mind you, I used to smoke at times to "get high". I enjoyed it from time to time. I no longer enjoy it. For me "getting high" is a negative side effect to the medication I NEED. It makes it possible for me to function and allows me to live a more normal life, but makes me dopey at times when I don't want to be.
I have watched family members go through cancer, and die. Pot helped them deal with the pain. It helps AIDS patients, cancer patients, Colitis, Chrohns, and many others. There are legitimate reasons for the good herb to be used medically, it is truly a "wonder drug." I know this from my own personal experience and experimentation, as well as from speaking with others.
Now an important thing to consider is this: Medicinal Marijuana is controlled. There are numerous strains of pot, which have different chemical compositions, and different effects. Certain strains help with certain symptoms more than others. The only way to control this is to have legitimate dispensaries where patients can safely get what they need without having to deal with criminals. And they always know what they are getting! Just like any other drug. Pharmacies serve the same purpose - a person who is prescribed viagra wouldn't want to get valium instead... Those who need to smoke ganja for medical reasons will continue to buy it; those who oppose legalization only ensure that the money will support crime as opposed to legitimate enterprise and medical research.
I feel that anyone who would deny this medicine to those who suffer and need it, are themselves the real criminals who should be punished. They are cruel, insensitive, ignorant extremist whackos! EVERYONE WHO THINKS THAT MEDICAL MARIJUANA SHOULD BE ILLEGAL, WHO WOULD DENY THOSE WHO SUFFER, SHOULD BE TRY LIVING WITH ULCERATIVE COLITIS, CANCER, ETC, OR THEY SHOULD TRY WATCHING THEIR MOTHER OR CHILD SUFFER FROM ONE OF THESE DISEASES. HOW DARE ANYONE WHO IS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO ENJOY THEIR HEALTH JUDGE THOSE WHO ARE NOT?!?
Anyone who thinks medicinal marijuana should be illegal should be tarred, feathered, and shot in the f*#%ing head! FU!!!
Anyone who thinks that medical marijuana SHOULDN'T be legal should feel the same way about alcohol and cigarettes. If you don't you are nothing more than a hypocritical dumbass and should be shot in the f*#%ing head! FU!!!
hey Reality Czech, read more closely... I wrote ILlegal, not legal. I'm on your side.
Guest #11, there is a cure for ulcerative colitis. Google "j-pouch surgery." The one thing you might want to do before having your large intestine surgically removed is get tested for a gluten antibody.
oh, I need to smoke more.
Joclyn, thank you for your help. I know all about the surgery. I know more about the disease than pretty much any doctor. Having a major surgery to remove a major organ is not a "cure" though. It is an option, but it's dangerous like any surgery.There are many complications that can happen, and that risk increases as time goes on. I have spoken with the best j-pouch surgeon in the world, at Cedars Sainai Hospital, and am considering it. This is not a forum for colitis though, it is a forum for the decriminalization of medical marijuana, which as far as I am concerned is mandatory!!! There needs to be more public outcry against the evil oppressors.
I have also been tested for gluten... but once again thank you.
I have a medical condition, that in any state that it is leagal to use I would be elegabole for it.
In NY, as a mother who disided to divorce, it is putting me all of a sudden in complication I can not even emphasize...
I can't even find a leagal reprezentation of somone who would support my situation.
what do I do? stop using the one thing that have been helping me a lot so far?
I AM A NEW YORK STATE RESIDENT AND I AM DIAGNOSED WITH MAJOR DEPRESSION AND HAVE BEEN TOTALY DISABLED SINCE 1994 . I LOST MY BROTHER WITH CANCER IN 1994 AND ALSO MY OTHER RELATIVE WITH CANCER THE SAME ABOUT YEAR . MY FATHER PASSED AWAY AROUND 35 YEARS AGO WITH M.S AND SUFFERED GREATLY THEN LONG TERM FOR MANY YEARS . I AM ON MANY MEDICATIONS I AM PRESCRIBED FOR DEPRESSION AND 3 YEARS AGO I WAS PRESCRIBED ZYPREXA MADE BY ELI LILLY . AROUND THE FIRST TWO MONTHS I TOOK THE MED ZYPREXA FOR DEPRESSION I WAS THEN DIAGNOSED WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES BECAUSE THE MEDICATION GAVE NOT ONLY ME BUT TEN THOUSAND OTHER PEOPLE WITH SAME SIDE EFFECT WITH NO WARNING LABEL ON THE MED . I HAD MANY YEARS AGO HAD SMOKED MARIJUANA AND I FEEL DEEP IN MY HEART CONSIDERING ME EXPERIENCING MY RELATIVES WHO WAS SUFFERING WITH CANCER AND THE NARCOTICS THAT WAS GIVEN TO THEM MAY HAVE HELPED THERE PAIN BUT MANY SIDE EFFECTS WENT ALONG WITH WHAT THEY WERE PRESCRIBED FOR AND THE ILNESS MY FATHER HAD WITH M.S AND THE MEDICATIONS HE WAS PRESCRIBED WITH GAVE HIM SIDE EFFECTS . THE MEDICATION ZYPREXA GAVE ME A FOREVER SIDE EFFECT WITH DIABETES AND THERE WAS NO WARNING LABEL ON THAT MED AND YET THE DRUG WAS CALLED BY ELI LILLY A HIGH TECH MED FOR DEPRESSION ALONG WITH THE FACT THE FDA HAD APPROVED IT. WITH MY EXPERIENCE OF WHAT I SEEN AND EXPERIENCED MY SELF WITH OUT A DOUBT KNOWING I HAD SMOKED MARIJUANA AND THAT A RELIEF IT GIVES ONCE SMOKED BESIDES INCREASING YOUR MOOD IN A POSITIVE WAY AND ALSO GIVES ONE SELF A DRIVE TO EAT AND SLEEP I FEEL ALL THE WAY THAT MARIJUANA SHOULD BE ALLOWED ONLY FOR MEDICAL USE ONLY FOR PEOPLE LIKE ME AND CASES SUCH AS CANCER PATIENTS AND OTHER PEOPLE WHO SUFFER PHYSICAL OR MENTAL OR ECEN BOTH AND BE ALLOED BY LAW TO SMOKE IT IN THERE HOMES BY A PRESCRIPTION FOR ALL NEW YORK STATE , I AM ASKING OUR GOVERNOR FOR THIS TO BE PASSED IN ALBANY AND IF SOME ONE WHO READS MY COMMENT WHO IS WITH THE GOVERNORS TEAM TO READ MY COMMENT TO BRING FORTH JUST NOT MY COMMENT BUT WHO HAS COMMENTED ON THIS ARTICLE AS WELL CAN PASSED THE LAW FOR WE SUFFER AND WE SHOULD NOT BE A VICTIM BY THESE DRUG COMPANIES FOR THE SIDE EFFECTS WE GET FROM THERE DRUGS AND MARIJUANA IS NOT A NARCOTIC . ALL INSURANCE DRUG COMPANIES WILL NOT ONLY SAVE ON THERE PAY OUTS ON THESE DRUGS BUT MEDICARE PART D WILL SAEV ALSO WITH PRIVITE INSURANCE COMPANIES . NOT ONLY THE COST SAVINGS WOULD P[UT A IMPACT BUT THE SAVINGS ENTIRELY FOR NEW YORK AND TO PROVIDE NEW YORKERS WITH BETTER EFFECTIVE QUALITY CARE . PLEASE ALBANY PASSED THE LAW FOR NEW YORK FOR MARIJUANA TO BE ALLOWED ONLY FOR MEDICAL USE !! FROM NUNZIO BAGLIERE SYRACUSE N.Y. MY E MAIL IS NUNZIO61@VERIZON.NET