Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Health Committee Chair Richard N. Gottfried and Codes Committee Chair Joseph Lentol today announced the approval of legislation that would allow the use of marijuana to treat serious, life-threatening illnesses under the supervision of a licensed health care practitioner.

"It is well documented that medicinal marijuana can be an effective treatment for seriously ill patients when other medications have failed," said Silver. "It is unacceptable that we continue to criminalize those who would benefit from the use of medicinal marijuana. This legislation creates a carefully controlled system that would give health care practitioners more options to treat their patients and provide seriously ill New Yorkers with the relief that they need."

"From Delaware to Maine, almost every state allows medical use of marijuana," said Gottfried. "If the patient and physician agree that a severe debilitating or life-threatening condition should be treated with medical marijuana, the government should not stand in the way. This is sensible, strict and humane legislation."

"Patients suffering from illnesses that can be treated with medical marijuana deserve safe and legal access to it," said Lentol. "This bill carefully regulates and monitors the distribution of medical marijuana to ensure that it is only used to treat prolonged and chronic medical conditions by requiring that any amount distributed to patients is reported to the I-STOP prescription monitoring system."

The Compassionate Care Act (A.6357/Gottfried) would allow medical use of marijuana under a doctor's supervision for patients with cancer or who are suffering from other severely debilitating or life-threatening conditions. The bill would set up one of the strictest and tightly regulated medical marijuana programs in the nation and includes provisions that would:

• allow a licensed practitioner to certify that a patient has a serious condition (under statutory criteria) for which they are likely to receive palliative or therapeutic benefit from treatment with the medical use of marijuana;
• permit a certified patient or designated caregiver who is registered with the state Department of Health (DOH) to possess up to two and one half ounces of marijuana;
• authorize the DOH to license and regulate "registered organizations and producers" to dispense medical marijuana for certified patients; and
• require DOH to issue registry identification cards to certified patients and designated caregivers.

New York State Director of the Drug Policy Alliance, gabriel sayegh, said, "New Yorkers living with cancer, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS and other serious illnesses have waited long enough. This is a simple matter of compassion. This is the fourth time the State Assembly has passed a medical marijuana bill. Now it's long past time for the State Senate to act. The science is clear. The moral and ethical needs are obvious. The only thing holding this up is the Senate. Listen to the science, to healthcare practitioners and to the vast majority of New Yorkers who support this proposal. It's time for the Senate to pass the Compassionate Care Act."

Howard Grossman, MD, Chair of NY Physicians for Compassionate Care, said, "This is a medication, far safer than many of the medications we already use, that has been proven effective for chronic and neuropathic pain, appetite stimulation and nausea. As doctors, we want to do what's best for our patients and that includes recommending medical marijuana for some patients. We urge the Senate to do the sensible and humane thing and pass the Compassionate Care Act now."

Geri Barish of Long Island, a cancer survivor whose son used medical marijuana before succumbing to cancer, noted, "When it's your child who can't help himself and is literally withering away in pain, you'd do anything to take that pain away. When people are suffering, we can at least give them their dignity."