New York: Marijuana Grow-Op Support To Be Debated By Legislature

[Jacob Redmond]

On Tuesday, the Niagara County Legislature will debate a resolution that would throw its support behind granting a medical marijuana license to a subsidiary company of Modern Corp. in Lewiston.

The legislation encourages state officials to deem Herbal Agriculture, LLC one of five organizations that would be permitted to grow medical marijuana and operate up to four dispensaries in the region. Herbal Agriculture already oversees a 12-acre greenhouse on Pletcher Road, which grows produce. Additionally, it holds exclusive license for a marijuana strain "Charlotte's Web," a plant with 0.3 percent Tetrahydrocannabinol concentration that leaves it incapable of producing a "psychoactive high," according the resolution.

The initiative has already secured bi-partisan support in Lewiston, with all serving board members speaking out in support of the facility in recent months.

Host community support is a condition of any facility's application process, governed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's Jul. 2014 Compassionate Care Act. The authorizes the administration of medical marijuana to sufferers of epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, ALS, Parkinson's and Huntington's disease, spinal cord injuries, cancer, and HIV/AIDS. The New York State Health Department is set to decide by January 2016 whether Alzheimer's, muscular dystrophy, and post-traumatic stress disorder, among others, are suited for similar treatment.

Neither the county nor the state's legislation supports smokable marijuana.

The resolution, sponsored by Legislators Kathryn L. Lance, R-North Tonawanda, and Clyde L. Burmaster, R-Ransomville, notes "significant economic development benefits" to the county coffers and local taxpayers. It indicates counties that supply medical marijuana to the New York State receive 22.5 percent of the state's seven percent excise tax.

Minority Leader Dennis Virtuoso, D-Niagara Falls, said he has been in contact with Gary Smith, owner of Modern Landfill, and Smith has been helpful and forthcoming with all questions on the matter. Smith's "H2Gro" facility will be subject to stringent qualifications developed by the New York State Department of Health and demonstrate "facility security common to the pharmaceutical industry," the resolution states.

Nonetheless, Virtuoso said he still needs time to decide on how he will vote on the measure.

News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Marijuana grow-op support to be debated by legislature - Niagara Gazette: Local News
Author: Philip Gambini
Contact: philip.gambini@niagara-gazette.com
Photo Credit: AP Photo
Website: Niagara Gazette

 

[stones55]

The bill that Cuomo signed is a complete joke. It was bastardized and watered down by him in order for him to agree to sign it before the deadline. It is a mere shadow of what was put in front of him to sign and it eliminates just about every individual who has an affliction that could be treated with cannabis from having access. It is a total joke --- just like the tyrannical dictator, Cuomo is.

Put a damn cannabis legalization bill up in front of the New York State population and let the residents vote on a ballot initiative whether we want to legalize cannabis or not. Of course, we already know that the vast majority of New York State residents want cannabis to be legal for whatever use one wishes to use it for. BUT --- that won't happen because Cuomo and all of his fearful puppets won't allow the MAJORITY to be heard ---- because, well, that would be a true democracy and in New York State, we have a government that does not believe in democracy --- it believes in a dictatorship whereby one individual, through his fear tactics and job threats, controls what we residents do with our lives. He believes that it is HIS right to decide how we live.

Show some balls, Cuomo, and allow the New York State resident and the MAJORITY to decide and exercise their FREEDOM OF CHOICE. If you didn't have the downstate vote, you wouldn't even be in your seat here in New York. There were only 4 --- yes, four counties in the ENTIRE STATE OF NEW YORK that voted you in. And guess where three of those were ---- yup --- the NYC area.