Pubdate: Thu, 25 Mar 2010
Source: Press & Sun-Bulletin (Binghamton, NY)
Copyright: 2010 Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin
Contact: http://www.pressconnects.com/services/editorial/editor.shtml
Website: http://www.pressconnects.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/878
Author: George Basler

AILING TIER WOMAN JOINS MEDICAL MARIJUANA EFFORT

Port Dickinson Resident Attends Unveiling Of Binghamton
Billboard

BINGHAMTON -- Rhonda Holmes admitted to some  nervousness as she stood
in front of the billboard in a  parking lot at Front and Clinton streets.

The 42-year-old Port Dickinson woman said she is  breaking the law by
using marijuana to ease the effects  of multiple sclerosis, which she
has battled for seven  years.

That's something she wants to help change.

Holmes was at the unveiling of a billboard put up by NY  Patients
First, a medical marijuana patient advocacy  group.

The group is leasing the billboard space from Park  Outdoor
Advertising, using a donation from  MarijuanaDoctors.com, a Web site
of doctors familiar  with the medical marijuana issue, said Adam
Scavone,  legislative director with NY Patients First.

"We want to have legislation enacted to get seriously  ill patients in
New York legally protected from  arrests," Scavone said.

The Binghamton billboard is the first of its kind in  the state, but
the group plans to put up more as it  raises money, the advocates
said. They acknowledged  they are working on a limited budget.

Proponents of medical marijuana want to make New York  the 16th state
to legalize medical marijuana for  patients with serious, debilitating
or life-threatening  illnesses. The Assembly has passed a bill twice
in  recent years, but the Senate has not.

On Tuesday, the state Senate Codes Committee reported a  medical
marijuana bill out of committee. The same bill  is also making its way
through the Assembly committee  process. The Senate has also included
the legalization  of marijuana for medical purposes in its budget
resolution, estimating processing and administrative  fees would bring
in about $15 million in the 2010-11  budget.

"This is the farthest legislation has gone in the  Senate. We think we
have a good chance of enacting  something in the very near future,"
Scavone said.

Jennifer Rog, a director with NY Patients First, said  she also uses
marijuana to help her deal with severe  food allergies and cramps.

The marijuana stimulates her appetite and relaxes her  "so I can eat
like a normal person," she said.

Scavone and other advocates disputed the argument that  passage of the
legislation would encourage drug abuse.  Similar laws have not led to
abuse in other states, and  New York's would be the most restrictive
bill in the  country, he said. Patients would have to register with
the state Health Department and obtain the marijuana  through licensed
dispensaries.

Failing to make medical marijuana legal is "silly,"  Holmes said,
noting that marijuana helps with symptoms  of her MS.

"I would like people to be able to say to a doctor, I  want to try
that (marijuana), and doctors to be able to  prescribe it," Holmes
said. "It's a little scary to be  here, but the story has to be told." 
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