Pubdate: Tue, 09 Jul 2013
Source: Record, The (Troy, NY)
Copyright: 2013 The Record
Contact:  http://www.troyrecord.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1724
Author: Nancy Rivera
Page: 10

SENSIBLE AND HUMANE

Last Saturday morning, the Compassionate Care Act, a bill that would
have created legal access to medical marijuana for seriously ill
patients, died in the New York State Senate. As someone who has
survived four bouts of cancer, I am disappointed and frustrated that
the bill never came up for a vote in the Senate, leaving me and
thousands of other New Yorkers who are living with serious illnesses
to wait yet another year for relief.

The Compassionate Care Act would have created one of the nation's most
tightly regulated medical marijuana programs allowing people with
debilitating conditions - such as cancer, multiple sclerosis,
HIV/AIDS, paralysis, and Parkinson's - access to a small amount of
medical marijuana under the supervision of their healthcare provider.
The bill has passed the Assembly four times and is supported by 82
percent of New York voters, including thousands of patients and health
care practitioners across the state. I spent several days in the
Capitol during the last few weeks of the legislative session talking
to our leaders about why this bill is so important to me.

I have had the misfortune of being diagnosed with cancer four times -
twice with breast cancer and once each with colon and throat cancer. I
have suffered from excruciating nausea and pain from the many
chemotherapy treatments I have undergone, and during one series of
chemo and radiation treatments, I lost 40 pounds in three months. I
wasn't willing to break the law to obtain medical marijuana, even
though I know it probably would have eased both my symptoms and made
it easier for me to endure my treatment. This bill would have allowed
New Yorkers, many of whom are suffering from unspeakable pain and
nausea, access to a medication known to be effective and relatively
safe without having to break the law.

This bill has been considered every year since 1997, and 18 other
states and the District of Columbia have passed medical marijuana
laws. New York has had the benefit of learning from what works and
doesn't work in others states and has crafted a well-regulated program
that would be overseen by the state Department of Health.

It is unfathomable to me that our leaders in Albany would be this
callous and deny patients like me access to a medication that could
relieve our pain and suffering and possibly extend our lives. Their
failure to act was a blow to patients across New York. As a cancer
survivor, a mother, a grandmother, and a lifelong New Yorker, I want
to live in a state that puts compassion before politics. Some people
who need medical marijuana won't live to see another legislative
session, but hundreds of us will continue the fight for this sensible
and humane legislation.

Nancy Rivera

Troy
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