Holly Anderson says that while she’s glad that a medical marijuana bill has been approved by the State Legislature, she’s disappointed in the version of the bill that passed.
Anderson, who is executive director of the Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester, says that Governor Andrew Cuomo didn’t voice his objections to an earlier version of the bill until it was too late to address them.
“My ire is with the governor,” she says.
And she’s not the only advocate of medical marijuana who says that the bill got watered down in ways that will make cannabis more expensive for patients. And for some, it will be less effective, Anderson says.
Anderson’s biggest objection to the new law is the fact that it doesn’t allow smoking as one of the ways that the plant can be used. Smoking is the most efficient way for the body to absorb all of the plant’s compounds, she says. Some of those compounds could be lost by processing the plant into a commercial form, she says.
Other criticisms: that the law creates too many layers of bureaucracy, that insurers won’t cover the purchase of the drug, and that purchases must be made in cash.
Anderson, a stage 3 breast cancer survivor, says that getting the law passed was partly a battle about perception. She says she’s careful in how she speaks about the plant to intentionally contrast medicine from recreational drugs.
Her organization never refers to the plant as marijuana or pot, she says, because it gives the wrong impression of how it will be used. They always call it cannabis, she says.
“This is not about people looking to get high,” Anderson says. “They’re trying to get well.”
And she says that the public needs to be reminded that plants play a vital role in the medical arsenal. Pacific yew bark is used to create the cancer-fighting-drug Taxol, Digitalis is used to treat certain heart conditions, and opiates are used for pain.
But Democratic Assembly member Joe Morelle says that the new law strikes the appropriate balance. He says that Cuomo was concerned about passing a law that encourages smoking.
He says that lawmakers were also in the awkward position of trying to help patients who could benefit from the drug while the state is also battling a heroin epidemic.
“We’ve got to be pretty mindful here of what we’re doing,” Morelle says.
Related Stories
This article appears in Jul 9-15, 2014.
The New York State Legislature has declared that marijuana is a medicine, defined the afflictions that it is to be prescribed for, who will grow it and dispense it, and the form in which will be administered. Our legislators will instruct medical doctors on how it is to be prescribed. I wonder when anyone in New York government earned degrees in medicine that makes them expert enough to write medical-related laws? I recall a TV commercial in which an actor says “I’m not a doctor but I play one on TV” That would seem to apply here. I didn’t hear anything about the NY legislators consulting with the American Medical Association or any other physician organizations on their opinion of “medical” marijuana. No pharmaceutical companies were consulted that I am aware of. It makes me wonder what else our legislators can define as “medicine” – magnets? mineral water? mushrooms? Tic Tacs?
the greatest plant in the universe is almost free, LET FREEDOM RING! 13
ENLIGHTENMENT…i was a brainwashed evil, mean, christian conservative until i tried it at 17 years old…i hated gays, immigrants, women’s rights, blacks, marijuana, i was Rush Limbaugh’s #1 fan….until i smoked marijuana, changed the world….hope the EVIL POPE is enjoying the marijuana revolution around the globe, keeping the flock brainwashed and against marijuana, gays, and women’s rights…you don’t deny ease from pain and suffering for billions of people unless you are PURE EVIL…
1000s of my friends and family have grown 30-99 plants for 20 years, thanks for keeping prices high and NORCAL wealthy…#1 crop in cali = $15 Billion Untaxed…
“any doctor against marijuana is a doctor of death” – cali secret 420
from 0 states to half the country, from low 20% approval to almost 70%, cali runs this planet by 2 decades, time to tie marijuana to the 2014, 2016 elections, out with the old, in with the new
20 years behind us southern states and NEW YORK, sad and scary….nobody denies freedoms like the south, nobody…the top ten incarcerators on the planet are southern states and more blacks are in prison then were slaves before the civil war…even if marijuana reforms did pass the republiCANTS in charge would deny you all your freedoms, centuries of practice…no matter though, we never planned on getting your backwards brethren from day one, half the country already but not one southern state, lol…not 1….the new generations are taking over in the south and they are nothing like their freedom denying parents, let’s ride…
Deaths by Alcohol: Millions
Deaths by Tobacco: Millions
Deaths by Prescription Drugs: Quadrupled in last decade
Deaths by Guns: Millions
Deaths by the food we are fed: Millions
Deaths by Marijuana: 0, ever…they are killing my American family while denying freedom
love and freedom forever
AMERICA’S WAR ON DRUGS IS A WAR ON AMERICANS! 33
CBD = Can’t Be Done (republican code)
Joe Morelle is “mindful” ? Since when ?????
Cuomo acted like a bully towards the patients and their caregivers in the final days of the legislature. He threatened to veto the well planned and thoughtful Compassionate Care Act andthen he rammed through a bill that reflected his misguided belief that medical marijuana was a law enforcement issue. He deserves to be tossed out through the Democratic primary process. Progressives should get behind the Teachout/Wu campaign. Go to http://www.zephyrteachout.com to learn more about the campaign.
Well if people want Morelle to “represent” them, they need to tell him their ideas, press him on it. “Cuomo acted like a bully toward patients…” Cuomo acts like a bully toward ANYONE who disagrees with him b/c he IS a bully. What else is new?
“He (Cuomo) threatened to veto the well planned and thoughtful Compassionate Care Act and then he rammed through a bill that reflected his misguided belief…”
No way! I’m SHOCKED that Cuomo would pass legislation this way. Oh wait. I just remembered his NY SAFE gun control act. Nevermind.
“Well if people want Morelle to “represent” them, they need to tell him their ideas, press him on it.”
Morelle and all of the other Cuomo toadies don’t want your ideas or input. Refer to the NY SAFE act. Enough said.
The Compassionate Care Act was a slippery slope. Governor Cuomo demanded changes to this bill to make sure there would be no unintended consequences.
Hopefully, someday, a future governor will advocate full legalization of cannabis. This really would be the best way for the government to get off of people’s backs while raising much needed revenue.
NYS still has way too many smokers. Why are cigarettes still legal here? Why does the tobacco industry support e-cigarettes? Look, both cigarettes and marijuana contain all sorts of chemical compounds. And vaping is a gateway to smoking; whatever the high someone’s after.
I wish Governor Cuomo would stop treating us like children. What a waste of money that NYS is spending on all those grotesque tv ads of people coughing and of those ravaged by cancer. Cigarettes are taxed so incredibly high and people still won’t give them up. Why not some positive incentives? How about raising the minimum wage for non-smokers? They’re worth more!
The criminal element that supplies Marijuana will continue to cultivate it and sell it. It will continue to be unregulated and untaxed. Maybe for the better. Those that currently smoke will still have access to it. The Police will arrest the few offenders that fall through the cracks and the drop in the bucket will continue. We will pay for the minorities in the community that get caught in the bucket that is the drug war to go to prison.
“I wish Governor Cuomo would stop treating us like children.” How about former NYC mayor Bloomberg’s failed attempt to ban 32 ounce sodas, and current mayor deBlasio’s plan to impose the ban again? New York is not the Empire State anymore; it’s the Nanny State.
Just give it up already! People have and will always smoke pot whether it is legal or not. I can probably buy pot with a few phone calls on any day in Rochester. It’s not crappy brick weed smuggled in by dangerous drug cartels, it’s high-quality bud that is probably grown in New York State.
It blows my mind that doctors can still give out legal heroin and meth (pain pills and Adderall), but pot is still vilified. To use a crusty cliche, the cat is already out of the bag. It’s legal in Colorado and Washington, just legalize it and tax it already!