On a Sunday morning in late July, in a small town in southwest Alabama, Barbara Moore Knight gave her fellow church members news that brought spontaneous applause and murmurs of "Amen!" She told them that her son, James LaRon Knight, was among the drug felons whose sentences had been commuted by President Barack Obama the week before. In 2004, Knight was convicted of conspiracy to sell cocaine. Although the crime was nonviolent, he was sentenced to more than 24 years in a federal prison. The sentence was a travesty, an unduly harsh punishment for a family man never accused of running a substantial criminal enterprise. [continues 507 words]
Across the United States, heroin users have died in alleys behind convenience stores, on city sidewalks and in the bathrooms of fast-food joints - because no one was around to save them when they overdosed. An alarming 47,000 American overdose deaths in 2014 - 60 percent from heroin and related painkillers like fentanyl - has pushed elected leaders from coast to coast to consider what was once unthinkable: government-sanctioned sites where users can shoot up under the supervision of a doctor or nurse who can administer an antidote if necessary. [continues 1491 words]
New Jersey's system of medical marijuana regulation, which requires all patients to obtain a state-issued patient identification card to possess and purchase medical marijuana, in tracked sales, is unconstitutional. Federal law still criminalizes marijuana. New Jersey medical marijuana patients must not be forced to incriminate themselves federally in order to obtain their medicine and be protected from prosecution under state medical marijuana statutes. In 1969, the United States Supreme Court struck down the federal Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 on the grounds that payment of the tax was a violation of the constitutional right against self-incrimination (Leary v. US). [continues 115 words]
Yes, you can toke up legally in New York in 2015: That is if the new bill passes. State Senator Liz Krueger will reintroduse a bill known as the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act in 2015. If passed, this will make it legal in New York State to possess up to two ounces of pot and you can buy it at the state liquor store. You will be able to grow six pot plants for personal use. Known as "recreational marijuana" as opposed to medical marijuana, which is already legal, the pot sales will be taxed with the money going into the New York State coffers. [continues 137 words]
NEW YORK (AP) - New York state lawmakers and advocates of medical marijuana gathered in New York City on Sunday to discuss the implementation of a new state law authorizing marijuana as a treatment for certain medical conditions. The event drew potential patients, policy makers and hundreds of people interested in working in the new medical marijuana industry. State lawmakers voted this year to make New York the 23rd state to authorize pot for patients with conditions including AIDS, cancer and epilepsy. [continues 190 words]
WASHINGTON (AP) - A debate over legalizing marijuana in the nation's capital is focusing on the outsized number of arrests of African-Americans on minor drug charges. Pot legalization supporters in Colorado and Washington state also spoke about racial justice, but their voters are mostly white and their campaigns focused more on other issues. The race factor hits closer to many more homes in the District, where nearly half the population is black. There are many other differences between the District and states that have legalized pot. The city is a patchwork of local and federal land, and there will be no lighting up in front of the White House or at the Jefferson Memorial. Also, Washington remains under the thumb of Congress, which could thwart the will of the voters as it has on other matters where liberal District tendencies clash with Capitol Hill. A poll last month showed nearly 2 of every 3 voters favor the initiative, which will be on November's ballot. [end]
Heroin is an incredibly dangerous, highly addictive drug that has ruined - and claimed - countless lives. As deputy commissioner of the county's Department of Mental Health and a New York state credentialed alcoholism and substance abuse counselor I have seen first-hand the devastating effects of this drug on families throughout our area. This is a crisis that seems only to be growing - a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services survey found that 467,000 Americans were addicted to heroin, a figure that has doubled over a decade. Our communities are not immune to this growing crisis and real solutions are needed now more than ever. [continues 274 words]
From her perch as head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Nora Volkow watches anxiously as the country embarks on what she sees as a risky social experiment in legalizing marijuana. For those who argue that marijuana is no more dangerous than tobacco and alcohol, Volkow has two main answers: We don't entirely know, and, simultaneously, that is precisely the point. "Look at the evidence," Volkow said in an interview on the National Institutes of Health campus here, pointing to the harms already inflicted by tobacco and alcohol. "It's not subtle-it's huge. Legal drugs are the main problem that we have in our country as it relates to morbidity and mortality. By far. Many more people die of tobacco than all of the drugs together. Many more people die of alcohol than all of the illicit drugs together. [continues 545 words]
Like many of you, I read this in the paper the other day: "Deal Made on Medical Marijuana." Like you I have been following this story and I wrote column on April 6 entitled, "Legalization needed for medical use of marijuana." I have also lobbied for the bill and specifically espoused the use of medicinal marijuana for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The persistent irrational stalling of the bill and the bottom-of-the-ninth two-out arrival of the "Deal" has upset me. So, with your permission I will respond. [continues 588 words]
Alan Chartock's recent argument that New York lawmakers are "stuck in cement" regarding medical cannabis is completely true. But Mr. Chartock, unfortunately, gives readers the impression that cannabis is only helpful to people who are dying. That is flat out wrong. Opponents of the proposed Compassionate Care Act, the legislative fruit of more than 17 years' work by Assemblyman Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan), aim to deny a natural remedy that could alleviate pain and discomfort among hundreds of thousands of sick New Yorkers. People enduring all types of cancer, multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and numerous other ailments support the Compassionate Care Act. [continues 142 words]
ALBANY (AP) - New York is inching toward legalizing some form of medical marijuana as support grows in the state Legislature and is likely to become one of a handful of issues taken up when lawmakers return later this month. But it remains unclear where the drug would come from for either Gov. Andrew Cuomo's limited research program or broader, legalized use under a proposed medical marijuana bill. Marijuana for clinical trials comes from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which has a contract with the University of Mississippi to grow marijuana for studies, a spokeswoman for the Food and Drug Administration said. [continues 427 words]
ALBANY (AP) - A new poll finds 88 percent of New York voters support the legalization of marijuana for medical use, and 57 percent also favor legalizing recreational use. The Quinnipiac University poll released Monday finds only 9 percent oppose legalizing medical marijuana. Maurice Carroll, director of the poll, says a narrow majority doubt that legalizing marijuana will lead to harder drug use, and about half say marijuana is no worse than alcohol. The poll surveyed 1,488 New York voters by phone on Feb. 6-10 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said he'll launch a limited hospital-based medical marijuana program. state Sen. Liz Krueger has introduced a full legalization bill, which the Cuomo administration opposes. [end]
By the time my 5-year-old daughter leaves for college, it's quite likely that marijuana use will be broadly decriminalized. Alaska has become the most recent state to move toward legalization, placing an initiative on the ballot for an August vote. If it passes, Alaska would join Washington and Colorado, which have already made recreational use legal for adults. The trend will probably continue, since 52 percent of Americans support legalization, according to the Pew Research Center. That's good news - and not because I want my daughter to indulge. [continues 519 words]
ALBANY (AP) - New York's health commissioner says he expects the state trial of medical marijuana to be up and running within a year. Dr. Nirav Shah told lawmakers at a hearing Monday that the research is intended to examine the drug's effectiveness in patient treatment, for example with pain in stages of cancer. He says the goal is to provide evidence of value not only for New York but for the country. The Cuomo administration has proposed a limited initiative to authorize medical marijuana use by patients at 20 hospitals. Shah says many hospitals have shown interest, the Health Department plans to establish the trial within the limits of current law, and it will use marijuana provided by the federal government. [end]
On Jan. 1, Colorado began permitting the legal sale of marijuana. Even before that, the nation's news media had swung into action, arguing just about everything - marijuana is dangerous or not dangerous, a gateway drug or just a lot of smoke. Nothing I saw mentioned why I, for one, will not smoke marijuana. I'm afraid it would lead me back to cigarettes. Once I was addicted to cigarettes. (I suppose I still am.) Now the latest surgeon general's report shows that cigarette smoking is even worse for us than we once thought. To all the usual diseases - lung cancer and heart disease - can be added diabetes, colorectal and liver cancers and, irony of ironies, erectile dysfunction. The Marlboro Man needs some help. [continues 470 words]
(AP) - President Barack Obama said he doesn't think marijuana is more dangerous than alcohol, "in terms of its impact on the individual consumer." "As has been well documented, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life. I don't think it is more dangerous than alcohol," the president said an interview with "The New Yorker" magazine. Smoking marijuana is "not something I encourage, and I've told my daughters I think it's a bad idea," Obama said. [continues 72 words]
A Gallup poll released this week showing that 58 percent of Americans support legalizing marijuana should send a clear message to Congress. It is time to talk seriously about decriminalizing marijuana on a federal level and leaving the regulation of pot to the states. The federal government already is leaning this way on a smaller scale, agreeing to stand down in the face of pot legalization in Washington and Colorado. But the Gallup poll showed much of the American public obviously favors this policy elsewhere. [continues 215 words]
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. [continues 288 words]
Patients should not be made to wait for marijuana legalization to gain safe access to their medicine. Medical marijuana has passed the New York General Assembly and awaits consideration in the State Senate. Three New York mayors (Ithaca, New Paltz and Binghamton) and a majority of New York residents also support medical marijuana. Eighteen states and the District of Columbia have passed similar legislation. Yet this bill continues to be stalled in the New York State Senate. No more excuses, our Senate needs to pass this compassionate legislation, and our governor needs to sign it into law. Politicians and police should have nothing to do with the decisions of doctors and patients. Should we really make outlaws of the sick? I think not. Mike Walsh Kingston [end]
Let's Devote Our Resources to the Real Drug Problem When I was a young man I refused to smoke marijuana when offered the opportunity. I thought that it might interfere with my future career. At that time I thought I might like to run for Congress and that if you were caught, you were disqualified. Of course, we now know that weed is a rite of passage. Presidents and presidential candidates freely admit to drug use. We also know that white middle class kids and their parents were exempt. [continues 591 words]
