Robert Celt
New Member
A series of new bills would make significant changes to New York's medical marijuana program as the state faces criticism for various barriers to patient access.
The legislation introduced this week by Sen. Diane Savino, D-Staten Island, and Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, D-Manhattan, would allow nurse practitioners and physician assistants to certify patients that can use the drug, while adding Alzheimer's and a handful of other conditions to the list of those eligible for treatment.
If approved, the number of medical marijuana dispensaries would be doubled, from 20 to 40. Another bill would create a 15-member advisory committee to help decide appeals from marijuana-seeking patients who have been denied.
Under current state law, only physicians who have received state-approved training are eligible to certify patients for the drug. So far, few doctors have elected to participate: As of late last month, only 421 of the state's roughly 90,000 doctors took the training.
"It's been a little more than two months since the license holders have opened their doors, and we've had a chance to look at where the logjams are what's getting in the way of patient access," Savino said in a statement Thursday. "What's very clear is two things: The locations of the dispensaries because there's such a limited number of them, and the limited number of participating doctors."
New York's medical marijuana program launched earlier this year after it was passed in 2014. But the program has gotten off to a slow start, in large part because so few doctors are participating, with some citing legal concerns.
Five licenses were awarded to private companies to grow and sell the drug, with each license holder permitted to open four dispensaries.
Only non-smokeable forms of marijuana-based drugs are permitted in New York, with doctors able to allow patients with certain ailments -- such as HIV or AIDS, multiple sclerosis and certain spinal cord injuries -- to receive the drug.
The bills from Savino and Gottfried -- who sponsored the original legislation authorizing the medical-marijuana program -- would expand the list of conditions to include Alzheimer's disease, traumatic brain injury, dystonia, muscular dystrophy, wasting syndrome, post traumatic stress disorder, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.
Marijuana companies, meanwhile, would be able to directly interact with and market to physicians, which Savino said she hopes will ease some doctors' concerns about the product. Another measure would make a technical change to dosing requirements, which is meant to allay some physicians' fears about how the state law relates to federal licensing requirements.
The new legislation would require nurse practitioners and physician assistants to take the same training before prescribing medical marijuana.
"Nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) are fully authorized to write prescriptions for even the strongest and most dangerous controlled substances," according to a memo attached to the legislation. "They each work within legally defined scopes of practice, which would apply under this bill."
If passed by the Legislature and approved by Cuomo, New York would also be required to recognize medical-marijuana patients who are certified in other states. Twenty-three states currently allow medical marijuana in some form.
Rich Azzopardi, a spokesman for Cuomo, said the governor's office has not yet taken a position on the bills. The standing medical-marijuana law allows Cuomo to pull the plug on the program if its being abused.
Cuomo had long been wary of legalizing medical marijuana before supporting a program with various restrictions and limitations in 2014.
"We will review the bills," Azzopardi said.
Gottfried said the bills would "definitely" expand patient access to medical marijuana. Parents of children with severe forms of epilepsy have been a frequent presence in the state Capitol in recent years, first pushing the state to legalize the drug for medical purposes and later pushing for easier access to it.
"The program --as restricted in the legislation and restricted even more by (Department of Health) regulations -- I think is almost guaranteed to not work very well, and I think that's what we're seeing," Gottfried said. "These bills would basically bring the medical marijuana program more in line with the rules governing other controlled substances, including drugs that are highly dangerous, which medical marijuana is not."
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: New Push To Expand Medical Marijuana In NY
Author: Jon Campbell
Contact: lohud
Photo Credit: Tania Savayan
Website: lohud
The legislation introduced this week by Sen. Diane Savino, D-Staten Island, and Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, D-Manhattan, would allow nurse practitioners and physician assistants to certify patients that can use the drug, while adding Alzheimer's and a handful of other conditions to the list of those eligible for treatment.
If approved, the number of medical marijuana dispensaries would be doubled, from 20 to 40. Another bill would create a 15-member advisory committee to help decide appeals from marijuana-seeking patients who have been denied.
Under current state law, only physicians who have received state-approved training are eligible to certify patients for the drug. So far, few doctors have elected to participate: As of late last month, only 421 of the state's roughly 90,000 doctors took the training.
"It's been a little more than two months since the license holders have opened their doors, and we've had a chance to look at where the logjams are what's getting in the way of patient access," Savino said in a statement Thursday. "What's very clear is two things: The locations of the dispensaries because there's such a limited number of them, and the limited number of participating doctors."
New York's medical marijuana program launched earlier this year after it was passed in 2014. But the program has gotten off to a slow start, in large part because so few doctors are participating, with some citing legal concerns.
Five licenses were awarded to private companies to grow and sell the drug, with each license holder permitted to open four dispensaries.
Only non-smokeable forms of marijuana-based drugs are permitted in New York, with doctors able to allow patients with certain ailments -- such as HIV or AIDS, multiple sclerosis and certain spinal cord injuries -- to receive the drug.
The bills from Savino and Gottfried -- who sponsored the original legislation authorizing the medical-marijuana program -- would expand the list of conditions to include Alzheimer's disease, traumatic brain injury, dystonia, muscular dystrophy, wasting syndrome, post traumatic stress disorder, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.
Marijuana companies, meanwhile, would be able to directly interact with and market to physicians, which Savino said she hopes will ease some doctors' concerns about the product. Another measure would make a technical change to dosing requirements, which is meant to allay some physicians' fears about how the state law relates to federal licensing requirements.
The new legislation would require nurse practitioners and physician assistants to take the same training before prescribing medical marijuana.
"Nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) are fully authorized to write prescriptions for even the strongest and most dangerous controlled substances," according to a memo attached to the legislation. "They each work within legally defined scopes of practice, which would apply under this bill."
If passed by the Legislature and approved by Cuomo, New York would also be required to recognize medical-marijuana patients who are certified in other states. Twenty-three states currently allow medical marijuana in some form.
Rich Azzopardi, a spokesman for Cuomo, said the governor's office has not yet taken a position on the bills. The standing medical-marijuana law allows Cuomo to pull the plug on the program if its being abused.
Cuomo had long been wary of legalizing medical marijuana before supporting a program with various restrictions and limitations in 2014.
"We will review the bills," Azzopardi said.
Gottfried said the bills would "definitely" expand patient access to medical marijuana. Parents of children with severe forms of epilepsy have been a frequent presence in the state Capitol in recent years, first pushing the state to legalize the drug for medical purposes and later pushing for easier access to it.
"The program --as restricted in the legislation and restricted even more by (Department of Health) regulations -- I think is almost guaranteed to not work very well, and I think that's what we're seeing," Gottfried said. "These bills would basically bring the medical marijuana program more in line with the rules governing other controlled substances, including drugs that are highly dangerous, which medical marijuana is not."
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: New Push To Expand Medical Marijuana In NY
Author: Jon Campbell
Contact: lohud
Photo Credit: Tania Savayan
Website: lohud
