Pubdate: Wed, 27 Aug 2014
Source: Times Union (Albany, NY)
Copyright: 2014 Capital Newspapers Division of The Hearst Corporation
Contact:  http://www.timesunion.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/452
Author: Adam Scavone

LETTER: NEW YORKERS BACK MEDICINAL USE - TIMES UNION

If Gov. Andrew Cuomo is worried about political fallout from
supporting medical marijuana, he need not worry. When medical
marijuana was the focus of debate in 2010, polling data showed a
significant majority of New Yorkers - as high as 71 percent in one
poll - were in favor.

Our Northeastern neighbors - in Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island, New
Jersey and Delaware - all have medical marijuana statutes, and those
states have not descended into chaos. New Jersey has strict rules to
ensure patients' supplies of marijuana are monitored and that licensed
producers' operations are secured. Producers face lost licenses or
criminal charges if found to be derelict.

New York's legislators should also look to Delaware's statute, which
requires that all medical marijuana be tested for safety. Patients
with compromised immune systems should not be exposed to mold spores,
pesticides or other contaminants. These same testing facilities can
standardize doses and monitor cannabinoid content, and they can
provide chain-of-custody solutions such as sealed and batch-numbered,
bar-coded containers.

Finally, doctors could be granted the authority to decide whether a
patient has access to whole plant marijuana for use in vaporizers or
by other means of inhalation, or whether the patient will be limited
to oral preparations such as oils, tinctures and edible products
infused with medical marijuana.

ADAM SCAVONE

New York Cannabis Alliance
Brooklyn
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MAP posted-by: Matt