New York's new medical marijuana program has drawn the interest of several major hospitals, which have formed alliances with aspiring growers to try to make the drug accessible to their patients. Friday was the deadline for companies to apply to become one of up to five licensed medical marijuana producers and distributors in the state. The State Health Department said on Friday that it was not yet able to release the number or names of the companies that had applied. [continues 449 words]
TOWN OF WALLKILL, N.Y. - Don Crawford comes from a long line of Orange County farmers. Though he no longer tends dairy cows, he still cuts hay for the thriving equestrian industry, and cringes at the creep of the suburbs. So when a stranger came to town and announced plans to grow marijuana on the fallow land next to his, Mr. Crawford was thrilled. "It's better than a bunch of houses," he said. And it would be legal. The prospective farmer, Erik Holling, a former chief operating officer of a technology company, is vying to become one of five registered producers of medical marijuana - or medical cannabis, the term favored by those in the trade - permitted under a New York State law coming into effect. [continues 1355 words]
Nancy Rivera, a cancer survivor, has a bag of pills in her night stand - white, gold and rust, big and little, antidepressants, antiemetics and tranquilizers - given to her by doctors. So it always seemed hypocritical to her that while she could possess such powerful mind-altering pharmaceuticals in fairly generous quantities, she was not allowed to legally smoke marijuana to relieve the nausea and pain of her cancer and chemotherapy. Now her wish may be a step closer to reality as Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York plans to announce in the State of the State address on Wednesday that he will use his executive powers to allow 20 hospitals across the state to dispense medical marijuana, state officials said. [continues 762 words]
MONTCLAIR, N.J. - They skulked in and out like criminals, shoulders hunched, heads down, declining to comment. It was the opening of New Jersey's first and so far only medical marijuana dispensary, in downtown Montclair, on Thursday, nearly three years after the law allowing such enterprises was passed. The opening had been delayed by political battles over whether it would lead to the de facto legalization of marijuana. Patronizing the dispensary was perfectly legal, provided a doctor's prescription for a list of specified medical conditions was presented, yet the pioneering visitors - it was not clear if they were patients - seemed none too eager to declare themselves, perhaps taken aback by the horde of news reporters there to greet them. One visitor, who would give only a first name, Ed, said he had been in pain since being shocked on the job for an electric company in 2003. [continues 623 words]
A standoff between Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey and advocates for medical marijuana has ended in a compromise that could put marijuana on the market for seriously ill patients by next summer. The new regulations, announced on Friday, would provide for six growing and distribution sites for medical marijuana in various parts of the state. The governor had wanted to limit the number of growers to two and distribution sites to four. But among the states that allow it, New Jersey would become the only one to limit the amount of psychotropic chemical permitted in the marijuana. [continues 302 words]
If you are going to do drugs, do it right, because even drug addicts deserve to have their lives protected. That was the message New York City health officials said they were trying to convey in a pamphlet on "tips for safer use" of heroin that the city financed and distributed and that has raised the hackles of public officials, including the city's special narcotics prosecutor, over the last few days. City health officials say the 17-page brochure, which has been in circulation since June 2007, simply recognizes that, realistically, it is impossible to stop every intravenous drug user. It offers "10 Tips for Safer Use" of heroin, like injecting drugs with someone else in case something goes wrong and "shoot correctly to avoid infection and collapsed veins." [continues 644 words]
With Sean Bell now eulogized and buried, the emotions surrounding his death are swirling around the investigation into whether police officers committed a crime when they fired 50 bullets into Mr. Bell's car. Although every investigation is different, cases like that of Mr. Bell, an unarmed black man who was killed on his wedding day, have come to follow a similar rhythm and pattern. And experts and those involved in the investigation say that through the history of those cases, they have learned that it is very difficult to convince a grand jury or a trial jury that police officers, who are empowered to defend the public with deadly force if necessary, went too far. In many cases of police shootings, with tensions high, the facts and legal fine points are difficult to isolate from a much larger context. [continues 1523 words]
The city's special prosecutor for narcotics criticized the revisions in the Rockefeller drug laws yesterday, saying they benefited major drug traffickers more than the low-level offenders they were supposed to help. A year and a half after the State Legislature revised the drug laws in an effort to reduce harsh prison sentences for low-level offenders, a study by the prosecutor, Bridget G. Brennan, examined 84 drug offenders prosecuted by her office who have asked for resentencing since the laws were changed in 2004. The offenders had been convicted of possessing or selling enough hard drugs to make them eligible for sentences of at least 15 years to life. [continues 736 words]
