Votes To Pass Medical Marijuana In State Senate
Submitted by steveelliott on Fri, 05/16/2014 - 19:45
By Steve Elliott
Hemp News
Democratic Senator Diane Savino has more than enough votes to pass her medical marijuana bill in the New York State Senate, according to press reports on Friday.
Sen. Savino has lined up 39 votes for the Compassionate Care Act, reports Teri Weaver at
Syracuse.com, which is seven more than the 32 she needs to win passage in the Senate for the first time. Time after time, medical marijuana bills have passed the Democrat-controlled New York Assembly only to stall in the more conservative, Republican-controlled Senate.
The video and social media blitz by Sen. Savino seems to be making an impact. She has filmed a public service announcement urging New Yorkers to contact their state lawmakers and tell them to support the bill.
"This shouldn't be about politics," Savino said in the video. "This should be about science. We shouldn't handcuff our doctors from making the best decision on how to treat their patients."
The list of supporters is "growing every day," Sen. Savino said earlier this week on "
The Capitol Pressroom" with Susan Arbetter.
Part of the plan is to raise state revenues with medical marijuana fees. If the bill passes the State Senate Health Committee on Tuesday, as expected, it would then go to the Senate Finance Committee and get a full Senate vote before the end of the legislative session next month, reports Kenneth Lovett at the
New York Daily News.
Tuesday's Senate Health Committee vote, scheduled for high noon, will be the first ever of its kind in the New York Senate. "The first step in the process is to make sure it gets through the committee process," said Senate Independent Democratic Conference spokesman Jason Elan.
The bill would legalize the use of medicinal cannabis to treat specific "serious, debilitating, life-threatening" chronic illnesses. Savino recently amended her bill to allow marijuana for rheumatoid arthritis. Unfortunately, the bill, as written, won't cover glaucoma, arthritis, or fibromyalgia.
The proposal would create an advisory committee to recommend additions and subtractions from the list of 20 medical conditions as more discoveries and research occur. The board could also hear appeals from individual patients who've been denied access to medical marijuana by the state's health commissioner.
Under the proposal, physicians would recommend patients with one or more of the 20 specific conditions, then the patient would apply for certification through the New York Department of Health. The health commissioner would then approve or deny the certification.
Certified patients would be able to buy up to 2.5 ounces every 30 days from state-licensed dispensaries, which would pay taxes to the state.
The 20 diseases are in Savino's proposal are:
• Cancer
• Positive status for human immunodeficiency virus or acquired immune deficiency syndrome
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
• Alzheimer's disease
• Muscular dystrophy
• Traumatic brain injury and post-concussion syndrome
• Dystonia
• Psoriasis
• Parkinson's disease
• Multiple sclerosis
• Damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity
• Epilepsy
• Cachexia
• Wasting syndrome
• Crohn's disease
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Neuropathy
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Lupus
• Diabetes
Patients under 21 would not be legally allowed to smoke marijuana, although their physicians could authorize medicinal cannabis use in other forms.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has pushed for a much more limited -- some would say unworkable -- medical marijuana program, hasn't said if he would sign the bill if it passes the full Senate.
Savino's latest version of the bill has no partner bill in the Assembly from her usually ally, Assemblyman Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan).
"I have concerns about some of the Senate amendments," said Gottfried, who chairs the Assembly Health Committee. "Of course, getting a bill passed in the Senate will require some compromises. I urge the Senate leadership to work with the legislators and advocates who support the Compassionate Care Act to negotiate a strong, comprehensive, workable bill that will help reduce suffering and save lives."
Photo of Sen. Diane Savino:
She Writes
- See more at:
http://www.hemp.org/news/content/new-york-reportedly-enough-votes-pass-medical-marijuana-state-senate#sthash.g2GMyWjC.dpufWe are very close.