A09016 Summary:

BILL NO    A09016 

SAME AS    Same as S 4041-B

SPONSOR    Gottfried (MS)

COSPNSR    Cahill, Clark, Cymbrowitz, Dinowitz, O'Donnell, Paulin,
           Peoples-Stokes, Lifton, Kavanagh, Cook, Spano, DenDekker, Skartados,
           Calhoun

MLTSPNSR   Alfano, Aubry, Boyland, Brennan, Brook-Krasny, Galef, Glick, Hikind,
           Hoyt, Jacobs, Jaffee, Kellner, Lopez V, Lupardo, Maisel, Markey,
           Mayersohn, McEneny, Millman, Pheffer, Powell, Pretlow, Rivera N,
           Robinson, Rosenthal, Scarborough, Schimel, Sweeney, Towns,
           Weisenberg, Wright

Add Art 33 Title 5-A SS3360 - 3368, Pub Health L; amd S853, Gen Bus L

Legalizes the possession, manufacture, use, delivery, transfer, transport or
administration of marihuana by a certified patient or designated caregiver for
a certified medical use; prescribes procedures for such possession,
manufacture, etc. including certification of patients by their practitioner,
and that, in the practitioner's professional judgment, the serious condition
should be treated with the medical use of marihuana; provides that possession
or manufacture of marihuana shall be lawful under these provisions provided
that the marihuana possessed does not exceed a total aggregate weight of two
and a half ounces; directs the department of health to monitor such use and
promulgate rules and regulations for registry identification cards; provides
for reports by the department of health to the governor and legislature on the
medical use of marihuana.

A09016 Actions:

BILL NO    A09016 

06/19/2009 referred to health
06/22/2009 reported referred to codes
01/06/2010 referred to health
01/12/2010 reported referred to codes

A09016 Votes:

A09016 Memo:

BILL NUMBER:A9016

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the public health law and the general
business law, in relation to medical use of marihuana

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: Allows patient to use marihuana to
treat a serious illness under medical supervision.

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS: Section 1.  Legislative findings and
Intent.

Section 2. Amends Public Health Law Article 33 by adding a new Title
V-A, Medical Use of Marihuana.

S3360 defines certified medical use, certified patient, certification,
designated caregiver, public place, serious condition, medical marihua-
na, registry application, registry identification card, and usable mari-
huana. A serious condition is defined as a severe debilitating or life-
threatening condition or a condition associated with or a complication
of such a condition, or its treatment.

S3361 allows a licensed practitioner (the defined term in the Public
Health Law for people who may prescribe controlled substances) to certi-
fy that a patient has a serious condition that in the practitioner's
judgment can and should be treated with the medical use of marihuana. A
copy of the certification will be placed in the patient's medical
records and the patient will get the original. A prescriber is not
allowed to certify medical marijuana for himself or herself. A certif-
ication will be valid for a maximum of one year from the date it is
written.

S3362 allows the possession of up to two and one half ounces of marihua-
na by a certified patient in possession of a valid registry identifica-
tion card, for medical use. A designated caregiver may possess that
amount for each patient for whom her or she is the caregiver. Use of
medical marihuana is not allowed in a public place.

S3363 directs the Department of Health to issue registry identification
cards to certified patients and designated caregivers.  No individual
shall be a designated caregiver for more than five patients.

S3364 creates registered organizations for the purpose of acquiring,
possessing, manufacturing, selling, delivering, transporting or distrib-
uting marihuana for certified medical use. A registered organization may
be a pharmacy; an Article 28-licensed facility (hospital, clinic, etc.);
a not-for-profit corporation organized to be a registered organization;
the Department; a local health department; or a registered producer (an
entity that produces marihuana, solely for sale to other registered
organizations).

S3365 establishes guidelines for the registering of registered organiza-
tions. Allows the department to suspend or terminate a registration on

grounds, and using procedures under this article relating to a license,
to the extent consistent with this title.

S3366 requires registered organizations to report to the commissioner
all sales, deliveries or distributions of medical marihuana to certified
patients or designated caregivers during a particular period.

S3367 directs the Health Department to contract with a third party to
conduct an evaluation of the operation of the law.

S3368 applies other provisions of Article 33 to this title. Where a
provision of this title conflicts with another provision of Article 33,
this title applies. The bill does not require any public or private
health plan to cover medical marihuana. Re-states the rule that reason-
able good-faith actions in compliance with this title, absent some other
element, would not subject a person or entity to criminal or civil
liability or professional discipline.

Section 3 of the bill amends Section 853-g of the General Business Law
to allow for the sale, furnishing and possession of materials used in
the lawful administration of medical marihuana to a certified patient.

JUSTIFICATION: Thousands of New Yorkers have serious medical conditions
that may benefit from medical use of marijuana. The National Academy of
Sciences' Institute of Medicine concluded in a 1999 report that "nausea,
appetite loss, pain and anxiety..all can be mitigated by marijuana."
Doctors and patients have documented that marijuana can be an effective
treatment - where other medications have failed - for at least some
patients who suffer from HIV/AIDS, cancer, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis,
and other life-threatening or debilitating conditions. Although other
drugs are more effective than marijuana for some patients, the Institute
of Medicine noted that "there will likely always be a subpopulation of
patients who do not respond well to other medications." Medical marihua-
na must be available to those patients.

The active ingredient in marijuana, THC, has been approved for medical
use by the Federal Food and Drug Administration and the Drug Enforcement
Agency since 1986 in synthetic pill form. But consuming it in natural
form - which many physicians say is more effective - continues to be
illegal. In an editorial in the January 30, 1997 New England Journal of
Medicine, Dr. Jerome P. Kassirer, editor of the Journal, explained that
inhaling THC is more effective than taking the synthetic pill: "smoking
marijuana produces a rapid increase in the blood level of the active
ingredients and is thus more likely to be therapeutic." It also enables
tighter control of the amount ingested. According to the Institute of
Medicine, "it is well recognized that (the) oral route of administration
hampers its effectiveness because of slow absorption and patients'
desire for more control over dosing."

Legalizing the medical use of effective medicine does not undermine the
message that nonmedical use of illegal drugs is wrong. Many controlled
substances that are legal for medical use (such as morphine, Valium and

steroids) are otherwise illegal. In the same New England Journal of
Medicine editorial, Dr. Kassirer argued that "it is also hypocritical to
forbid physicians to prescribe marijuana while permitting them to use
morphine and meperidine to relive extreme dyspnea and pain."

The bill amends the Public Health Law rather than the Penal Law because
the Penal Law's controlled substances provisions all relate back to the
Public Health Law. Thus, all the acts that the bill makes lawful under
the Public Health Law would, by definition, be legal under the Penal
Law.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
1997-98 : A.6407 - referred to Health
1999-00: A.8082 - referred to Health
2001-02: A.5878 - referred to Health
2003: A.5796 - reported to Rules 2004:
A.57960-A - reported to Rules 2005-06:
A.8265 - reported to Rules 2007-08:
A.4867-A and -B - passed Assembly

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: Minimal administrative expenses,
largely covered
by registration fees and substantial Medicaid savings.

EFFECTIVE DATE: Sixty days after it shall become law.