cannabisnews.com: NY State’s Medical Marijuana Rules Shaping Up
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NY State’s Medical Marijuana Rules Shaping Up
Posted by CN Staff on March 29, 2015 at 19:41:02 PT
By Jesse McKinley and Catherine Saint Louis
Source: New York Times
Albany -- When New York State’s lawmakers were mulling legalizing the medical use of marijuana last summer, some proponents feared that the proposed law was so restrictive that it would prevent many patients from receiving the drug. Now, with the state’s Health Department close to issuing final regulations about the new program, the law’s supporters say their fears may soon be realized.The law itself is quite restrictive: Only 10 conditions qualify for medical use of marijuana; the drug may not be smoked; and New York will initially allow only 20 dispensaries across the state, run by five organizations.
The regulations go even further. Sales would be restricted to five so-called brands of medical marijuana, which concerns some supporters who say patients and doctors need flexibility to find out which of the hundreds of strains of marijuana works best for a particular condition. (The regulations even stipulate that brand names cannot be “coined or fanciful, and may not include any ‘street,’ slang or other name.”)Assemblyman Richard N. Gottfried, a Manhattan Democrat who was one of the law’s sponsors, voiced deep frustration this month with “a long list of senseless burdensome restrictions on patients and organizations.”“There are people from very, very young children to very elderly New Yorkers who are going to continue to suffer unnecessarily,” Mr. Gottfried said.The regulations also impose constraints in unexpected ways. A plumber may not be able to unclog a sink in a dispensary without prior written approval. Drinking a Coke or even milk on the premises could be a violation.All of which is surprising, advocates say, because of New York’s somewhat late entry into the medical marijuana market: Nearly half of states nationwide already allow medical use of the drug, and California, the first to do so, has allowed it for almost two decades.“The administration continues to operate as though medical marijuana programs have never been operated before,” said Gabriel Sayegh, the managing director for policy and campaigns at the Drug Policy Alliance, which lobbies for more liberal drug laws. “If we were having this discussion in 1998, one would understand the extreme caution. But it’s not the late 1990s, it’s 2015.”Such caution threatens patient access, advocates say. No one knows how many people will qualify to use the drug in New York; estimates run from thousands to hundreds of thousands.Monica Mahaffey, the director of public affairs at the Health Department, defended the law and the regulations, asserting that they ensure “appropriate access through comprehensive regulations and safeguards.”“The state developed the regulations through this very critical lens to ensure that the entire program would not be subject to enforcement action or legal challenges,” she added.At some point this year, the state will select the five registered organizations that will operate the dispensaries. Under the 2014 law, the medical marijuana program is supposed to be up and running by 2016.But so few dispensaries, some say, may limit access for the infirm if they or their caregivers have to travel hours to get the drug, particularly in upstate New York, where big cities are more spread out.“You’re shoving it all through a narrow tube,” said State Senator Diane J. Savino, the Staten Island Democrat who sponsored the law in the Legislature’s upper chamber.Advocates had hoped this stipulation would be remedied by allowing organizations to deliver the drug. But the regulations make that difficult, requiring written approval from the Health Department.Margaret Hart, a retired minister in Central Square, N.Y., about 20 miles north of Syracuse, said that multiple sclerosis prevented her from driving and that she had hoped delivery would be an option. “A lot of the law has come down from a place of fear,” she said, “rather than compassion.”Ms. Hart, who lives on a fixed income, also worries about cost. Under the draft regulations, which were issued in December and are expected to be finalized this spring, pricing of medical marijuana will be determined by Dr. Howard A. Zucker, the state’s health commissioner, rather than the market itself.But the drug will not be covered by insurance or Medicaid, so many low-income patients could be shut out if it is priced too high. A high price could also send buyers back into the cheaper black market, while too low a price could lead to worker exploitation at dispensaries, which are to be unionized, per the law.“It’s like the three bears’ porridge,” said Ed Draves, a lobbyist with Bolton-St. Johns, a firm that represents members of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. “It can’t be too hot, it can’t be too cold, it has to be just right.”At first, only doctors will be allowed to recommend the drug, another issue for those who say that nurse practitioners — often the sole providers in rural communities — should also be allowed. They are also “frequently involved in palliative and hospice care,” said Stephen Ferrara, the executive director of the Nurse Practitioner Association New York State. “We would want those patients to have access.”And some doctors are wary of being the lone recommender of marijuana in an area, because once word gets out, some people who are not legitimate patients seek them out, looking for no-questions-asked access.The draft regulations, which run more than 100 pages, are often painfully precise. One section forbids patients to drink or eat on the premises of a dispensary, unless “necessary for medical reasons.” Another says that other than patients and their caregivers, no person — not even a plumber or a swaddled infant, for instance — would be allowed into a dispensary without the written consent of the Health Department and an employee escort at all times.The Health Department has since clarified that written consent may not be uniformly required, provided that the guest’s name and purpose for the visit is logged and an escort is provided. “The department recognizes that in some cases, prior authorization is not feasible,” Ms. Mahaffey said.Ms. Savino, a more moderate Democrat than Mr. Gottfried, is more supportive of the regulations thus far, saying that she had been pleasantly surprised by some — including a stipulation that a pharmacist be on the premises — and that such measures would help New Yorkers get comfortable with medical marijuana.“We want to make sure we don’t do anything to jeopardize the program,” Ms. Savino said. “Is it inconvenient? Yes. But what’s a bigger inconvenience is if we don’t have these tight controls and the federal government comes in and shuts down the whole program and disrupts the flow of product to patients.Some regulations could easily be remedied, Mr. Gottfried said, but he has been stymied in trying to get the Health Department’s attention. “I have asked the health commissioner if he could talk to me,” he said. “And that was not happening.”Mr. Sayegh, of the Drug Policy Alliance, credited the department and the governor for taking up the issue of medical marijuana, saying “there are people in the administration who care deeply about the issue.”But he said he feared that the proposed regulations would not serve those for whom marijuana is medicine.“We’re not holding our breath,” he said, “that they are going to be dramatically better.”Jesse McKinley reported from Albany, and Catherine Saint Louis from New York.Source: New York Times (NY)Author: Jesse McKinley and Catherine Saint LouisPublished: March 29, 2015Copyright: 2015 The New York Times CompanyContact: letters nytimes.comWebsite: http://www.nytimes.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/PDdtx6mnCannabisNews  Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #14 posted by Oleg the Tumor on April 04, 2015 at 12:18:18 PT
The Audacity of (Intercepted) Hope.
Dear Mr. President,How about an Executive Call on Cannabis before its too late?Nobody knows how much time they have left.        ________________I just don't see him giving a rats ass about me or others like me.1500 die from Cancer every day. But he's got his, so soon it'll be off to the cushiest of retirements for him and his ilk while we are herded off to jail the hospital or the grave. Or worse, to face the GOP beserk robot that wants to shave disability payments by 20%! (And if that really happens - look out!) Thank you for your service, Mr. President.Your legacy as a double-stuffed Oreo is intact.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #13 posted by FoM on April 01, 2015 at 20:07:07 PT
Hope
Thank you President Obama! 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #12 posted by Hope on April 01, 2015 at 08:09:54 PT
Some righteousness.
Obama commutes sentences of 22 people in federal prisonhttp://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/03/31/obama-commutes-sentences-22-people-in-federal-prison/?intcmp=trending
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #11 posted by FoM on March 31, 2015 at 10:42:24 PT
Just Legalize It!
This is totally crazy!
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Comment #10 posted by Oleg the Tumor on March 31, 2015 at 09:43:15 PT
Are they trying to invent the wheel? Not again!
Somebody should let the State of New York in on the secret -- public access to cannabis has already occurred!This whole measure, as many astute readers here have already figured, is designed to fail and fail spectacularly, just like the U.S. Postal Service, which has been drowning in red ink since Congress passed a law requiring the USPS to fund its pension liabilities 75 years in advance!Some people insist on pretending to be in the lead even as they just stand there.I see the spirit of Aaron Burr is still alive and well in New York State politics. It's all about being "exclusive", and excluding those who are not.That's James Crowe, Esquire, to you and me.SO RELEASE THE PRISONER ALREADY!
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Comment #9 posted by kaptinemo on March 31, 2015 at 05:21:32 PT:
This why only full-on legalization will work
My Marine Da used to say that you never hand a loaded weapon to an idiot, as you will probably be the first one he kills.Handing these prohibition-steeped bureaucrats control of your MMJ is worse than handing a loaded weapon to an idiot. In this case, you're handing a loaded weapon to an idiot that actively hates you.Whether it's MMJ or just plain ol' MJ, giving these prohibitionists a chance to muck things up always produces the kinds of regulations that are deliberately meant to sabotage the operation. WA State hired a known prohibitionist to set up their legal recreational market infrastructure. Gave a nice, new laboratory for that Dr. Frankenstein to work in, and look at what lurched out of it. Not what the people had in mind.You cannot leave this to the pols who hate MJ. And MMJ-only laws gives them too many chances to screw things up. Too many of the State employees involved in the process think themselves 'stakeholders' instead of servants, and think they have a right to inject their own neuroses into the process. What's happening in NY is a perfect example.Straight-up legalization across all 50 States and Possessions will be the only way to end this prohibitionist jiggery-pokery, this endless fiddling and finagling they do to us.We are the social and political majority, now. Over half the country is with us. We don't have to play by their crooked rules anymore. We don't even have to debate them; we occupy the position the prohibs once did, and can now exercise the prerogative a majority has. That is, politically, the pols must now turn to us and say "Thy will be done."Time to make that will manifest, and put the pressure on State and Fed representatives to quit playing games with us, and get the job of fully legal cannabis for all accomplished. That's the only way to stop this endless Rube Goldberging.
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Comment #8 posted by runruff on March 31, 2015 at 02:05:39 PT
Idiots!
They have had such sterling success keeping people from smoking it (sourcasm) and now those in the know say smoking it ain't bad, instead, smoking it also has health benefits as an expectorant that cleans the walls of the lungs.I know these restrictive rules are being made by the same draconian assembly that has pushed prohibition for profit all these many years. Prohibition has been a very large iceberg that is taking a long while to completely melt away, even in such warm waters.
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on March 30, 2015 at 13:17:13 PT
New York Readies Restrictive Medical Marijuana Law
Excerpt: The Health Department's bill also defines "terminally ill" as patients with a "life expectancy of one year or less," a restriction that would prevent the elderly from accessing the drug. Perhaps strangest of all, the law prohibits the smoking of medical marijuana. Instead, the drug will be administered as an "individual dose" of raw or concentrated "ingestible or sub-lingual" medical marijuana.URL: http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/new-york-readies-restrictive-medical-marijuana-law-20150330
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Comment #6 posted by observer on March 30, 2015 at 12:11:51 PT
Commissar Never Makes the Mistake
pricing of medical marijuana will be determined by Dr. Howard A. Zucker, the state’s health commissioner, rather than the market itselfYes, commissar of central government will know, because government knows. Commissar, because of scientific government expert, will set quota, will set price. No longer bourgeois and counter-revolutionary to set price, to make fat capitalist dog rich, while people suffer! Commissar make quota: Commissar set price. 
http://drugnewsbot.org
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Comment #5 posted by Hope on March 30, 2015 at 10:39:54 PT
It is so hard
to watch ignorance, unnecessary fear (phobia), prejudice and incompetence in government.This just makes them look so ignorant, fossilized, stupid and foolish.I'm not saying they are. I'm just saying they sure look it. Big time.
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Comment #4 posted by End of the Rope on March 30, 2015 at 08:22:41 PT:
Shortsightedness
  What a waste of taxpayer dollars. Their seems to be no limit to prohibitionist fueled idiotic behavior. Acting like the Harry Anslinger of old is a dated and detrimental practice that provokes hatred for government. This Reefer Madness panic thats played out across the country must stop. People are suffering needlessly and politicians are running around like chickens with their heads cut off screaming,"the sky is falling". Having an intelligent conversation about the practice and implementation of medicine doesnt require a judgmental neighbor, a predijudial officer, a compromise courtroom, or conflicting federal law, to interfere with it.
  The long arm of the law is about to be shorten and it scares them. Patient rights are about to be rewritten and shortsighted politicians will become extinct. NewYork's MMJ will be nothing but a joke for patients if passed, and will help set the stage for the federal court argument of a "fair and equal treatment" of citizens. Hang in there New York, keep fighting.
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Comment #3 posted by The GCW on March 30, 2015 at 07:46:40 PT
FoM,
Some of these people must be good for something.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by FoM on March 30, 2015 at 06:35:47 PT
The GCW
I am really annoyed by the rules they are setting up. It's only a plant. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by The GCW on March 30, 2015 at 05:21:20 PT
What would Tarzan and Jane do?
brand names cannot be “coined or fanciful,A plumber may not be able to unclog a sink in a dispensary without prior written approval. Drinking a Coke or even milk on the premises could be a violation. “appropriate access through comprehensive regulations and safeguards.”state developed the regulations through this very critical lens to ensure that the entire program would not be subject to enforcement action or legal challenges,”pricing of medical marijuana will be determined by Dr. Howard A. Zucker, the state’s health commissioner, rather than the market itself.“It’s like the three bears’ porridge,” said Ed Draves, a lobbyist with Bolton-St. Johns, a firm that represents members of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. “It can’t be too hot, it can’t be too cold, it has to be just right.”forbids patients to drink or eat on the premises of a dispensary, an employee escort at all times“Is it inconvenient? Yes.-0-It's enough to make a person sick.-Do it caveman style.
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