cannabisnews.com: NY Panel OKs Medical Marijuana Bill





NY Panel OKs Medical Marijuana Bill
Posted by CN Staff on April 09, 2003 at 07:55:03 PT
By Yancey Roy 
Source: Democrat & Chronicle 
Albany — A campaign to legalize medical marijuana gained steam Tuesday, as a legislative committee took the first step in sending the issue to a vote by the Legislature. The Assembly Health Committee voted 16 to 6 to advance a bill that would establish guidelines to allow physicians and other health care professionals to prescribe marijuana to alleviate pain. It was the first time any legislative panel has voted on the measure.
The bill, which has been around since 1997, still needs to go through other committees before reaching the full Assembly, and it needs a Senate sponsor. But the bill picked up a Republican co-sponsor, Assemblyman Joel Miller of Poughkeepsie, who said as a dentist he has prescribed stronger drugs. “We should not be embarrassed about taking drugs, even if they may be street drugs, and using them appropriately,” Miller said. “If this is at all helpful to people, I don’t see why we can’t move forward.” Marijuana can ease the pain of cancer, and it can help AIDS patients and others with debilitating pain, supporters say. One Democrat and five Republicans opposed the bill, including Jim Bacalles, R-Corning, and Dan Burling, R-Alexander, Genesee County. Burling, a pharmacist, said other options were available. Under the bill, a physician would have to certify each month that a patient has a condition meriting marijuana treatment. The patient would get marijuana from a registered nonprofit organization, regulated by a local health department or the state. Source: Rochester Democrat & Chronicle (NY)Author: Yancey Roy Published: April 9, 2003Copyright: 2003 Rochester Democrat & ChronicleContact: dceditpage democratandchronicle.comWebsite: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/Related Articles:New York Fires Up The Decaf Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11934.shtmlState Passed the Law, but Never Used It http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9419.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by afterburner on April 09, 2003 at 21:33:04 PT:
Fiorello LaGuardia, NY City mayor, Vindicated
The feisty mayor of New York stood up to the lies of Harry J. Anslinger's original Reefer Madness by doing his own research finding some surprisingly modern conclusions.La Guardia Committee Report - Table of Contents http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/lag/lagmenu.htm"In order to head off the kind of violence that left some 30 dead in Detroit, New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia reached out to his city's African American community by denouncing a union that had barred an African American from its war plant and launching a citywide campaign for unity." Hear him speak for yourself: - History Channel - Speeches - Fiorello LaGuardia, mayor of New York City: Imposes curfew to halt Harlem rioting http://www.historychannel.com/speeches/ra_archive/speech_455.ramI spent part of the morning scanning old issues of the Ann Arbor Sun. The hope that I found in those early days of cannabis liberalization cheered me up:"With sixty entries a day still pouring in, along with astonished phone calls from around the country, the SUN has decided to postpone the 'Pound of Columbian' contest drawing until Friday, January 24....January 24 is a significant date in Michigan's marijuana history. On that day in 1967, Detroit police swept down on a four block area in the Warren-Forest neighborhood near Wayne State University and rounded up 56 prsons for sale and possession of small quantities of reefer. '56 Arrested in Campus Dope Bust' blared the Detroit Free Press the morning after Detroit's first big marijuana raid, yet 43 of those picked up were let go the next morning without being charged. Of the remaining 13, a dozen copped pleas in various ways, and so escaped jail time. One remained to fight back by challenging the laws as unconstitutional. This was John Sinclair and the origin of the celebrated 'ten for two' case which five years later resulted in the overturning of Michigan's marijuana law and the release of Sinclair from prison after 30 months of incarceration. -"Lb. of Columbian Drawing Moved to Jan. 24," Ann Arbor SUN, Dec. 20, 1974 -- Jan. 3, 1975.Look back to look forward.ego destruction or ego transcendence, that is the question.
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