Pubdate: Wed, 09 Jul 2014
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2014 Globe Newspaper Company
Contact: http://services.bostonglobe.com/news/opeds/letter.aspx?id=6340
Website: http://bostonglobe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52
Author: David Klepper, Associated Press

N.Y. ALLOWS MEDICAL MARIJUANA, WITH TOUGH LIMITS

NEW YORK (AP) - New York has become the 23d state to authorize
marijuana as a medical treatment - though it will have one of the more
restrictive programs in the country.

Under legislation signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo, patients
with one of 10 diseases will be able to obtain nonsmokeable versions
of the drug. Officials chose to prohibit distribution of marijuana
plant material to discourage nonmedical use.

The law requires medical marijuana be ingested or consumed as a vapor.
The details of exactly how the drug is to be administered will be
worked out by the state Health Department.

The law "gets us the best that medical marijuana has to offer in the
most protected, controlled way possible," Cuomo, a Democrat, said
Monday at a ceremonial bill-signing event in New York City. The actual
bill was signed Saturday.

"This is the smartest approach that any state has taken thus far,"
Cuomo said.

Some advocates for medical marijuana contend New York's law is too
restrictive, however, and said they'll push lawmakers to expand it. Of
the 23 states that have legalized medical marijuana, only one -
Minnesota - prohibits the smokeable version of the drug. Advocates
also say the state should allow people with more kinds of illnesses to
have access to the treatment.

"It's a first step and it's an important step that will improve
thousands of peoples' lives," Karen O'Keefe, director of state
operations at the Washington-based Marijuana Policy Project, said of
New York's law. "But it will leave others out."

The medication isn't expected to be available for at least 18 months
as state regulators, physicians, and potential distributors of the
drug work to implement the new program.

Under the law, the state will approve and regulate up to five
businesses authorized to grow and distribute the drug. The operators
could each have up to four dispensaries statewide.

Patients would get prescriptions from physicians approved by the state
to participate in the program. Approved conditions include AIDS, Lou
Gehrig's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, certain
spinal cord injuries, epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease,
neuropathies, and Huntington's disease.

Also Monday, Washington state issued its first retail marijuana
licenses. Officials sent a series of overnight e-mails alerting
marijuana-shop proprietors that they would finally be able to open for
business.

Randy Simmons, the state Liquor Control Board's project manager for
legal marijuana, said Sunday night that the first two dozen stores
were being notified early to give them an extra few hours to get
cannabis on their shelves before they are allowed to open their doors
at 8 a.m. Tuesday - an opening that's expected to be accompanied by
high prices, shortages, and rationing.

The issuance of the retail licenses marked a step that's been 20
months in the making. Washington and Colorado stunned many politicians
by voting in November 2012 to legalize marijuana for adults over 21
and to create state-licensed systems for growing, selling, and taxing
the marijuana. Sales began in Colorado on Jan. 1.

It remained unclear how many of the shops being licensed in Washington
planned to open on Tuesday. Officials eventually expect to have more
than 300 recreational marijuana shops across the state.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt