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Medical Marijuana: New York Bill Wins Senate Committee Vote

With Democrats in control of the New York state Senate, a medical marijuana bill has for the first time been passed by a Senate committee. In previous years, medical marijuana bills had managed to pass in the House, but not in the Republican-controlled Senate.

The bill, S04041, passed the Senate Health Committee Tuesday. It must now pass the Senate Codes Committee before proceeding to a Senate floor vote. The identical House version of the bill, A7542, has been referred from the House Health Committee to the House Codes Committee.

Under the bills, New Yorkers suffering from a "serious condition" can be certified by a physician as benefiting from the use of medical marijuana. It also creates a registry program. Any patient or caregiver registered with the state would be able to possess up to 2 ½ ounces of marijuana and up to 12 plants.

With friendly leadership in both chambers, New York could become the 14th medical marijuana state. But time is running out -- the session has only about a month to go, and leaders have plenty of other issues on their plates.

Both the Drug Policy Alliance and the Marijuana Policy Project have been involved in pushing for the legislation.

Drug War Issues Medical Marijuana
Politics & Advocacy State & Local Legislatures

New Yorkers for Compassionate Care website

Please visit the New Yorkers for Compassionate Care website:

http://www.nycompassionatecare.org

we have info on the bill and updated action alerts.

Jen

New York Citizens Against Marijuana Prohibition

It is certainly good news that the medicinal value of marijuana is becoming more widely acknowledged in New York State and that legislators are standing up in defense of seriously ill patients who could be treated with marijuana better than with other more harmful medications and treatments. This is the least that we could ask of our elected officials, however it is still overly presumptuous for the state to leave the decission to the legislators, when the current prohibition has very shaky legal standing as it is. It would be more accurate to say that it is a moral and legal obligation for the legislature and the governor to take notice of the fraudulent and deceptive manner in which the cannabis prohibition was established in the first place and look at the real facts. Then we are truly holding our public servants accountable for the proper scrutiny of legislation.

My position is I would support a revised version of the medical marijuana bill, that would call for the removal of marijuana from New York's schedule 1 list and does not violate the patient doctor confidentiality rule by requiring government certification of every patient. In order for the medical marijuana law to be accurate, it must correct the false notion, implied by its schedule 1 listing, that it has no medical value. There are 11 government patents on the medicinal uses of cannabis. It is actually criminally negligent for any legislator who knows of the medical uses of cannabis to allow another law to be passed that perpetuates the false representation of the plant as a dangerous narcotic. The LaGuardia Report and the Nixon Shafer Commission Report both found, through extensive studies, that the reasoning behind marijuana prohibition was extremely flawed and deceptive. Therefore, New York State has the constitutional authority to make a law based on the true facts and findings, that will properly represent the rights and well being of the people. A medical marijuana law must recognize the individual's right to choose a safe effective herbal remedy that has never proven to be a danger to public health or safety. Senator Thomas Duane's bill, in present form, does not. Therefore it is still supported by questionable data and unconstitutional misuse of legislative power. A medical bill that refers to or treats marijuana as a dangerous narcotic is deceptive and unjust, as there is ample evidence that it is not phisically addicting and poses no major health risks to the consumer.

NY C.A.M.P. has prepared a revised version of the bill, that would follow constitutional limitations and convey true scientific observation.
We are asking every legislator and governor to consider the true findings and scrutinize the blatantly unconstitutional prohibition.
All New Yorkers have a right to this safe effective medicine and the government has no real authority to even consider denying that.
Let this herb be returned to it's place in the common medicine cabinet from which it was removed by fraud and deception.
Support a revised medicinal cannabis bill that would protect the individual's right to choose without government interferance.
http://www.nycamp.org/bill

It better pass

lets get ridd of these expensive media filling compouds our labs make for medicine. Marijuana should be perscribed for depression, beats our anti-depression medicaltions that make you wanna kill yourself so make shure your older than 18...why so you dont get sued....OUR NATION SHOULD NEVER PROFIT THIS MUCH OF PATENTABLE MEDICINES MADE IN LABS....grow it free...no side effects...i mean the made a pill out of marijuana ...sounds like it cost a ton more to make in a lab than planting a seed...if our nation had more common sence we would not be in this situation..once the schools teach our kids that the declaration of independence is hemp paper...or that taxes were paid in hemp in the past as well as millions of other facts skew for profit....my mo mhas MS her doctor took her off all her medication and everything for failing a drug-test for somthing they themselves perscribe in a pill...so what if you fail a test while taking synthetic THC its ok...we deserve every bit of this economic downfall...that what happens whenyou lock up the smart pot smokers and praise the stupid intolerant drunks...gonna be a fun thing to fix.

not holding my breath

(Puffing joint, holds breath)

I'm not holding my breath over medical marijuana in NYC ...

(after a long moment, finally exhales a big puff of marijuana smoke)

What exactly can we do to as

What exactly can we do to as private citizens to help this along?

When does this bill expire

When does this bill expire if not voted on before june 22nd?

what a joke 12 palnts

what a joke 12 palnts .......2 and half ounces don't these idiots realize you can get like 2.2 pounds of 12 plants with a cppl thousands watt bulbs and somebody who knows what they r doing only person that gets 2 ounces of 12 plants is going to horriable weed and wont even come close to being call " medical marijuana"

cali is like 18 plants 6 mature 12 immature and pound and a half =24 ounces a little more realistic

RE: what a joke 12 plants

ah, but if you read, it says 2.5 ounces AND 12 plants... you can have your 12 as long as you only harvest a net of 70g at a time. :)

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