On May 8, the Yonkers Police Department's Emergency Service Unit began carrying naloxone and have since had to use the drug to save two people in the throes of a heroin overdose. YONKERS - Members of the police department's Emergency Service Unit saved a 24-year-old Carmel man overdosing on heroin, the second time in a week they successfully utilized naloxone. The man was found unconscious in the back seat of a parked car along Yonkers and Central Park avenues at approximately 12:14 a.m., Saturday. He had no radial pulse and was not breathing, police said. [continues 161 words]
As a retired physician with over 35 years of experience in the addictions field and as a board member for the Erie County Council for the Prevention of Alcohol and Substance Abuse, I am writing in opposition to the proposed Senate bill (4406-B) that will legalize medical marijuana in New York State. There is not an adequate base of research that shows marijuana, in its most common form (smoked), is effective for treating any serious medical condition. Therefore, no major group of medical experts supports the use of smoked marijuana for treatment of health problems. In a recent review, the director of the California Center for Medicine Cannabis Research stated that marijuana could be helpful in the treatment of nerve and spasm pain of multiple sclerosis, but stated other indications are less clear. [continues 315 words]
More than a decade ago the state Legislature considered a bill that would have allowed doctors to prescribe marijuana. It required a doctor to "certify that a patient has a serious condition that in the practitioner's judgment can and should be treated" with marijuana and "that other drugs or treatments would not be as effective." The bill went nowhere, as did its successors in following years. Now, the state seems to be on the verge of passing legislation that is identical in some ways but very different in one. [continues 420 words]
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Susan Rusinko, who says she uses marijuana daily to manage the effects of multiple sclerosis, says she believes New York lawmakers will legalize the drug for medical use this year. "I really feel it," said Rusinko, of Auburn, who has been at the forefront of a growing effort to convince lawmakers to allow for the drug's use. "2014. It's going to happen. It's going to be huge." Rusinko said she was optimistic despite the fact that a key, long-time medical marijuana proponent in the Assembly has not signed onto the latest bill in the New York State Senate. [continues 256 words]
When Mayor Bill de Blasio took office in January, community groups and juvenile justice advocates hoped that his administration would significantly decrease the numbers of black and Latino young people who are unfairly - and in some cases, illegally - arrested and dragged through the court system for possession of tiny amounts of marijuana. But a new analysis of state arrest data by a nonprofit called the Marijuana Arrest Research Project, which studies police policy, suggests that the de Blasio administration is on track to equal the more than 28,600 low-level marijuana arrests that were made under Michael Bloomberg in 2013. The administration needs to review Police Department policy to make sure these arrests are necessary and being fairly made. [continues 419 words]
I was delighted to read Erie County Republican Committee Chairman Nicholas A. Langworthy's commentary that urged legislators to vote for the Compassionate Care Act. Republicans have a long tradition of encouraging help for the sick, including effusive support for medical cannabis from Newt Gingrich back in 1982. Our state legislators can rest assured that research confirms the plant's medical efficacy and safety. It reliably helps those suffering from AIDS-related wasting, the side effects of chemotherapy, symptoms of multiple sclerosis and various types of pain. It also shows promise for many other ailments. [continues 76 words]
It's the Economy There are many things that bother Jon Cooper about the market for marijuana. "It's nearly impossible to find a consistent product," said Cooper, one of the legion of tech start-up guys and M.B.A.s plunging into the world of pot. "You go into a dispensary and buy something called 'Sour Diesel' and try it. You go to another dispensary, buy 'Sour Diesel,' and it's a different experience. You go back to the first dispensary, buy it again and it's not the same, either." [continues 1310 words]
EDINA, Minn. - AFTER a ruinous 30-year experiment in harsh sentences for narcotics trafficking resulting in mass incarceration, policy makers are having second thoughts. Many states, including Texas, have reformed their laws to shorten sentences. Congress is giving serious consideration to the Smarter Sentencing Act, which would do the same. The United States Sentencing Commission has just adopted a proposal to revise federal guidelines. And most recently, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced that President Obama intends to use his executive pardon power to release hundreds or even thousands of federal prisoners with narcotics convictions (I am on a committee to train lawyers for the project). Something like that hasn't happened since President John F. Kennedy granted clemency to more than 200 prisoners convicted of drug crimes. [continues 635 words]
On Staten Island, Rising Tide of Heroin Takes Hold The obituaries have a certain sameness to them: full of praise and regret for lives cut short, marked by telltale details and omissions. The deaths occurred at home, or at a friend's house elsewhere on Staten Island. The mourned were often young and white, and although how they died was never mentioned, nearly everyone knew or suspected the cause. A 23-year-old man, a cello student in high school and the son of an elevator company vice president died in March. A former high school hockey player who delivered newspapers died in 2013 at 22. Another 23-year-old man who was working construction died at home in July 2012. Family members and autopsy reports revealed that they died from heroin or combinations of drugs including heroin. [continues 2562 words]
I have read endless letters about doctors giving narcotics to people who don't need them and also people who abuse the system by selling their drugs. I couldn't agree more that these are problems. But there is a different concern for people who are truly in chronic pain. They don't abuse or sell their meds. That's my problem. I am a person who has a legitimate reason for needing to be on pain meds. It has caused me constant pain that interferes with my entire life, from my everyday abilities to my sleep, not to mention the hardship it has taken on my financial needs. [continues 137 words]
Apparently, a recent letter writer thinks that by legalizing marijuana, New York State will clear up its debt. We started the lottery to pay for schools and yet our schools are no better off. In fact, every year school taxes go up and city and suburban schools seem to fight over which extracurricular programs, if any, they will have the money to keep. Look at all the casino money that this state is raking in. Is that reducing our debt? He also thinks legalizing marijuana will reduce law enforcement and lead to a whole new sector of jobs. Law enforcement will not be reduced because not only will we have to worry about drinking and driving, we will have to worry about a now legalized drug on the road. As far as new jobs, he's right. We will have marijuana farms, bakeries for the marijuana and more drug counselors. [continues 78 words]
Back in January, Gov. Andrew Cuomo broke New York State's decade-long stalemate over medical marijuana by announcing that he'd dusted off a never-implemented 1980 law allowing up to 20 hospitals to prescribe the plant to seriously ill patients. Since then, the governor's office has remained silent while the state health department drafts regulations to guide the program. Meanwhile, various plans to go beyond the governor's proposal have been gaining adherents in the state legislature. The announcement that New York would soon join the list of 20 states and the District of Columbia allowing the use of marijuana for medical purposes has re-ignited a debate over a plant that despite strong evidence that it provides some medical benefits to cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis patients and people with other serious illnesses remains on the federal government's list of banned substances that have no legitimate medical use, such as heroin and cocaine. [continues 1284 words]
Six bills are being proposed by the state Senate Democrats in an effort to prevent heroin addiction and target a problem that is making its way across the Empire State. Members of the state Senate Democratic Conference held a press event Tuesday to discuss their proposals aimed at improving health insurance for heroin-related issues, improving drug education and increasing penalties and the number of community rehabilitation facilities. They featured the story of Patricia Farrell of Colonie, whose daughter died because of heroin just days before her 19th birthday. The Colonie Central High School graduate, who got her high school diploma early at the age of 16, was attending classes at a local community college as she figured out what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. Farrell said that somewhere along the way her daughter, Laree, tried heroin and became hooked. [continues 265 words]
ALBANY -- Democrats in the New York State Legislature said Tuesday they are preparing a major response to what they termed a heroin epidemic in New York as they released statistics showing sharply increased usage statewide. In 2012, 478 people in New York died of heroin overdoses, up 122 percent since 2008, according to the Democrats' report based on a series of hearings last year. At a news conference held by the Democrats, Patricia Farrell, of Clifton Park, spoke about the death of her daughter Laree last year -- days before her 19th birthday -- from a heroin overdose. "That was all it took -- one time," said Farrell. "Our kids are all at risk." [continues 201 words]
ALBANY (AP) - Lawmakers may be coming to an agreement to allow the use of medical marijuana after revised legislation was introduced Friday that limits the number of diseases that would qualify for prescriptions. Opponents criticized the original bill for allowing prescribers to determine what constitutes a serious condition, previously defined generally as severely debilitating or life threatening. The amended bill narrows that to about 20 conditions, including cancer, HIV, AIDS, post-traumatic stress disorder, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease. "Those are conditions that have been determined, in either other states or through research, to be benefited by medical marijuana treatment," said the legislation's sponsor, Sen. Diane Savino, of Staten Island. [continues 233 words]
In his State of the State address, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo invoked the Controlled Substances Therapeutic Research Act of 1980, a law that provided for the medical use of cannabis a full 16 years before medical marijuana was approved by the California legislature. New York's legislation provides for carefully controlled distribution and study of marijuana for medical purposes. Unfortunately, this has reignited the call for broader legalization of medical marijuana in New York, perpetuating several myths. One is that the active ingredients in marijuana (collectively called cannabinoids) are unavailable to patients. [continues 314 words]
It swallowed people up. That's what it really did, if you want to know the truth. It swallowed them up whole, swallowed them up by the millions. In the process, it hollowed out communities, broke families, stranded hope. Politicians brayed that they were being "tough on crime" as if anyone is really in favor of crime as they imposed ever longer and more inflexible sentences for nonviolent drug offenses. But the "War on Drugs" didn't hurt drugs at all: Usage rose by 2,800 percent that's not a typo - in the 40 years after it began in 1971. The War also made America the biggest jailer on Earth and drained a trillion dollars still not a typo from the treasury. [continues 398 words]
A new bill in the state legislature to legalize marijuana will be debated on Tuesday morning. In December, State Sen. Liz Krueger, whose district includes the Upper East Side and the Flatiron, introduced a bill that would make toking legal. While Krueger jokes that she hasn't sampled the green stuff in years, she said her intention is not to encourage smoking. Rather, by regulating marijuana, Krueger said she hopes fewer kids will light up. "We believe that the research shows that marijuana is not more dangerous than alcohol," she said. "Regulating and taxing it would actually make it harder to get for young people than it is now." [continues 106 words]
Robert, who had used other illegal drugs, fell into heroin addiction in 2007 when his best friend introduced him to it. The 29-year-old Ithaca man, whose name is being withheld because of the stigma attached to addiction, injected heroin off and on for about six months until not using the drug meant withdrawal symptoms. For Robert, the hook soon wasn't the high. Rather, it was the need to avoid the sickening, unbearable effects of withdrawal. Robert sought help but found that, at first, access to heroin was far easier than a way out of addiction. [continues 1799 words]
By Health Professionals, Legislators Have Concerns With Proposals Floated in Albany CANANDAIGUA - New York is inching toward legalizing some form of medical marijuana as support grows in the state Legislature, and it is likely to become one of a handful of matters taken up by lawmakers in the near future. Locally, health-care professionals and lawmakers say they still have more questions than answers. Advocates for legalized medical marijuana say that the drug can ease nausea, appetite loss and pain associated with such illnesses as cancer, AIDS and epilepsy. Certain strains that are low in THC have also shown seizure-fighting properties, and in October, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved testing of a British pharmaceutical firm's marijuana-derived drug that contains a property that may combat seizures. [continues 1450 words]
Jeffrey Toobin's piece on the inmates and staff at the Baltimore City Detention Center illustrates the devastation of human lives and communities which decades of drug prohibition have wrought ("This Is My Jail," April 14th). Most American drug-prohibition enforcement is in minority communities, even though drug use among minorities is virtually no higher than it is in the white population. With a large percentage of the young men from minority neighborhoods locked up, and few opportunities for young women to make a living wage as anything other than their jailers, sex, romance, smuggling, and gangs within detention facilities should come as no surprise. Even after huge expenditures, the erosion of civil rights across the country, and the disruption of communities and families, drugs are still available both outside and inside our jails and prisons. It is baffling that anyone would think that mere regime and policy changes could improve the conditions in jails, communities, or in the country at large. Trish Randall Vancouver, Wash. [end]
The Brooklyn district attorney's office will stop prosecuting people arrested on charges of possessing small amounts of marijuana, according to a confidential policy proposal that the district attorney, Kenneth P. Thompson, sent to the New York Police Department this month. The policy is part of a broader push on the part of Mr. Thompson, who took office this year, to look at alternatives to court for low-level offenders. His office is also participating in a task force looking into placing 16- and 17-year-olds who commit low-level, nonviolent misdemeanors, like scrawling graffiti or aggressively riding bicycles on sidewalks, into a short behavioral program, rather than the court system. [continues 929 words]
KINGSTON - The Kingston Fire Department's new stash of life-saving medication to give people suffering from opiate drug overdoses has already saved two lives, the city says. Kingston Mayor Shayne Gallo and Kingston Fire Department Chief Mark Brown said its fire department is one of the first in the area to begin stocking intra-nasal Narcan, given to those suffering from opiate overdoses of drugs like heroin or Oxycodone. "With the influx of fentanyl-laced heroin in the area and the significant increase in overdoses seen by first responders, this will allow our personnel to administer the drug sooner to counteract the ill effects. We have already seen how this program can make a difference," said Brown. [continues 79 words]
ROSENDALE - Jen Pinto was in the prime of her life. She had a good job, a nice home and a positive outlook on her future. What happened to her at age 40 would change all that and severely diminish her quality of life. It would also give her a voice in the growing chorus of advocates for the legalization of medical cannabis. Without warning, Pinto awakened one day in October of 1999 and could not walk. Day by day, the condition worsened, and she feared the onset of paralysis. [continues 799 words]
ROSENDALE - Jen Pinto was in the prime of her life. She had a good job, a nice home and a positive outlook on her future. What happened to her at age 40 would change all that and severely diminish her quality of life. It would also give her a voice in the growing chorus of advocates for the legalization of medical cannabis. Without warning, Pinto awakened one day in October of 1999 and could not walk. Day by day, the condition worsened, and she feared the onset of paralysis. [continues 792 words]
Kingston Baby With Rare Genetic Disorder Undergoes Medical Marijuana Treatment KINGSTON - There's a dramatic change in 11-month-old Mabel Grace Tangney Decker, and her mother likes what she's seeing. The two left Kingston for Colorado in January, hoping to find something - anything - that would help the baby in her battle against CDKL5, a rare X-linked genetic disorder characterized by seizures and severe neurodevelopment impairment. "I see her more aware of herself and more aware of me, and what mother doesn't want that?" said Carly Tangney-Decker. "I see her making better eye contact, and her sense of balance has improved." [continues 364 words]
Make no mistake about it: the recent heroin epidemic is exactly what the Taliban and al-Qaeda were hoping to achieve. Sure, it took the tightening of prescription drug supplies to give it the boost it needed, but with introductory level pricing, it was just a matter of time before they'd sew the market up. So, when will this nation allocate real and serious dollars to fight this terror attack? Perhaps it would help to begin referring to it not just as an epidemic, but as the chemical weapon attack it is. Because that's what it's going to take -- a huge intervention. That and the acceptance that we cannot do this with our existing under-funded chemical dependency facilities and the half-baked policies of health insurance companies when it comes to drug addiction. ROCHESTER [end]
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]
Despite Andrew Cuomo's Promises, the End Might Not Be Near A U.S. map that shows where pot is legal looks a lot like recent electoral college maps, except instead of blue, the liberal states are rendered in green: the entire West Coast (California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada), progressive mountain and Midwest states (Colorado, New Mexico; Michigan, Illinois), all of New England, plus New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and Hawaii. Twenty states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws legalizing medical marijuana; in two of them, recreational weed is all good, too. [continues 1404 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, N. Y. (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 Food and Drug Administration spokeswoman said. [continues 144 words]
Anyone who has seen the ravages of addiction knows how devastating it can be. Programs that can help combat that need our full support because in one way or another, addiction takes a toll on us all. The latest epidemic is the opioid heroin. Opioid overdoses, including those from heroin, killed more than 2,000 New Yorkers in 2011 - double the number that died in 2004, according to the state attorney general's office. A main reason for its resurgence: Heroin is cheaper than the prescription drugs it often replaces. And plentiful. [continues 516 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, PTSD and numerous other ailments support the Compassionate Care Act. [continues 143 words]
SPRING VALLEY A car used by drug dealers will now help educate young people against using drugs. The black Chrysler PT Cruiser now carries the Spring Valley Police Department orange DARE logo, for Drug Abuse Resistance Education. The nationwide program involves police officers working with students to discourage substance abuse. The Rockland County District Attorney's Office seized the four-door car during an investigation that led to multiple arrests, said Officer Francis Brooke, the department's DARE cop also assigned to Spring Valley High School as a school resource officer. [continues 108 words]
In Many Cases, Insurance Won't Cover Rehab Costs [Cumberland] EDITOR'S NOTE - The death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman underscored a troubling development: Heroin, long a scourge of the back alleys of American life, has spread across the country. Second of a three-part series. NEW YORK - As the ranks of heroin users rise, increasing numbers of addicts are looking for help but are failing to find it - because there are no beds in packed facilities, treatment is hugely expensive and insurance companies won't pay for inpatient rehab. [continues 640 words]
When I was a kid, I smoked weed a few times. My use was just experimental and I never used it regularly because it made me sleepy. I envied my friends who enjoyed it. They always thought they danced better but really didn't and they laughed excessively at mundane questions like, "What time is it?" During my middle adult years I smoked "ganja" once with a friend who insisted that I share her high. It wasn't really the kind of peer pressure you might be thinking about. She had stage four breast cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy. I would have done almost anything she asked because I thought that she was going to die. Luckily she survived and after various treatments, she is well and thriving. [continues 525 words]
Ever since Eric Holder became our chief law enforcement officer, I have described him as being Barack Obama's faithful vassal, who supports the president's defiling of the Constitution. But recently, there has been a valuable exception: Holder's call for reforming America's prison system, a topic I have repeatedly covered. Holder said the government needs to deal differently with the heroin epidemic than it did with the crack cocaine crisis decades ago. As reported in multiple media outlets, the attorney general spoke to the American Bar Association in San Francisco last August. He was adamant about the state of America's prisons: [continues 537 words]
Hungarian-American billionaire and philanthropist George Soros is no stranger when it comes to throwing around money, but the former hedge fund manager is making headlines over some major donations he's made to help legalize marijuana. On the heels of the approval of two of the United States' first recreational laws in Colorado and Washington, other locales across the country are considering implementing policy changes that could decriminalize pot, ease penalties for users or eliminate weed laws altogether. Advocacy groups are leading the campaign to crush marijuana prohibition from coast-to-coast, and 83-year-old Soros is helping line the pockets of those making that push. [continues 674 words]
In the wake of the death of a University of Rochester student that has gripped the campus and underscored the dangers of heroin, the university's president on Friday implored students who may be using drugs to seek treatment. In a written statement issued to students and staff, Joel Seligman cited a recent university survey that found a small number of undergraduates have used heroin and urged them to "please get help." "I want to make a special plea to the students, faculty, staff and others in our community with regard to heroin," Seligman said. "Heroin has killed. In too many cases, heroin has been adulterated in unpredictable ways whose baneful effects the user cannot anticipate. Please get help." [continues 461 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, PTSD, and numerous other ailments support the Compassionate Care Act. [continues 142 words]
A Holtsville couple ran a heroin enterprise for at least a year out of the home they shared with up to 10 children until it was broken last month, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said Wednesday. [name redacted], 27, and her husband, [name redacted], 57, ran the drug ring from their Holtsville home, which served as the "main distribution point" for pickups by dealers from Holbrook and at least six other Suffolk communities, authorities said. "They participated, they encouraged and they sold to addicts whose lives were being destroyed . . . " Spota said at a news conference. "They destroyed the lives of the families of these addicts, and, of course, the people of Suffolk County were also suffering." [continues 483 words]
My son Casey died of an opioid overdose in Westchester County on Labor Day 2012 when he was 24. No one gave him the antidote to the drug he had ingested. That antidote is naloxone, brand name Narcan. Casey's death is part of an epidemic in this country that we are not acknowledging. Not only our minds, but also our laws and public policies have not caught up with what is a staggering new reality. Guess what kills more people: traffic accidents or accidental drug overdoses? The latter, though you wouldn't know it from our focus on speeding, well-engineered roads, reducing drunk driving and all the money we spend on traffic safety. Guess again; which epidemic has more deaths per year: HIV/AIDS or overdose? Again, the latter, with opioid overdose deaths alone more than double HIV/AIDS deaths in the U.S. [continues 281 words]
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - As deaths from heroin and other opiate drugs rise throughout New York, state officials are planning to equip police with an antidote to reverse the effects of overdoses. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced the Community Overdose Prevention program on Thursday, saying it will let every state and local law enforcement officer carry naloxone. They will get kits containing two syringes filled with naloxone - also marketed under the brand name Narcan - two inhalers of the drug, sterile gloves and a booklet on using them. The cost of the kit is roughly $60. Each has a shelf life of about two years. [continues 252 words]
The eventual legalization of marijuana may seem inevitable. But that doesn't mean advocates on both sides of the issue have stopped fighting for and against it. Those who oppose legalization see the increased use and acceptance of marijuana by young people as the primary reason it shouldn't be legalized. After all, in Colorado it's available in kids' candies like gummy worms, which can't legally be sold or consumed by anyone under 18. "What you have is an incredible drop in the perception of young people who see marijuana as bad," says Ben Cort, a recovering drug addict who led the fight against legalization in Colorado and is now a director of the Colorado Center for Addiction, Dependency and Rehabilitation in Aurora, Colo. He cites a recent study that says less than 40 percent of all young people in Colorado see marijuana as a bad thing. [continues 378 words]
GOP in State Senate Taking a Big Step in Softening Opposition to Medical Pot The shifting by the Republican conference in the State Senate on the topic of medical marijuana is remarkable, and can't come fast enough. Otherwise, there will be more cases like that of Wendy S. Conte of Orchard Park. Conte recently set up residency in Colorado so that her 8-year-old daughter, Anna, could get access to that state's medical marijuana program. Anna suffers from debilitating seizures. Her mother is not alone in going so far as to change legal residence in order to secure the treatment she believes will help her daughter. [continues 466 words]
Marijuana misleads when they says it helps the sick, as they don't have to smoke pot. Positive medical components in marijuana can be obtained as prescription pills called Cannabidiol. People don't need to smoke marijuana leaves for medical reasons. Most smokers can't seriously say they smoke it because they are sick. It is obvious that most people only want to get high. The bad side of marijuana is established. It may not be as dangerous for some, but it is a threat to many. About 1 out of 6 young, consistent pot smokers have addictive problems. [continues 58 words]
To the Editor: "Pivotal Point Is Seen on Legalizing Marijuana" (front page, Feb. 27) plots the political present and future of marijuana legalization without a major data point: Americans' growing intolerance for the racial injustice embedded in the enforcement of marijuana prohibition. Last June, we reported that a black person in this country is 3.73 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than a white person, despite similar rates of use. The media has seized on appalling facts like these, pushing racial justice to the center of the debate over marijuana reform in Washington, D.C.; Portland, Me.; and elsewhere. Director, Criminal Law Reform Project American Civil Liberties Union New York, Feb. 27, 2014 [end]
RAYMOND Yans is president of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), the UN agency charged with monitoring the implementation of antidrug treaties. It is therefore not surprising that Yans takes a dim view of marijuana legalization in Colorado and Washington, which he says poses "a grave danger to public health and well-being." But according to the INCB, legalization isn't just dangerous; legalization is illegal. Even Americans who support marijuana prohibition should be troubled by the implications of that argument, which suggests that international treaties trump the Constitution. [continues 509 words]
Parents Must Leave State to Help Stricken Children ALBANY - Wendy S. Conte, of Orchard Park, returned from Colorado a few weeks ago after renting an apartment there, getting a Colorado driver's license and setting up residency. "Officially, I'm a Colorado resident," she said. The reason for Conte's new residency has nothing to do with frequently heard reasons for the New York exodus - evaporating job opportunities, high taxes or weather. She took up the new residency so that her 8-year-old daughter, Anna, who suffers from lifelong debilitating seizures, can get access to that state's medical marijuana program. [continues 1760 words]
Inside New York
