MrFixit
June 19th, 2007, 09:46 AM
Purchasing pain medicine on the street
Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, D-Manhattan, just held a news conference with two men—one from outside Oneonta and one from Long Island—who use marijuana for medicinal purposes. Gottfried sponsored a medical marijuana bill that the Assembly passed last week, and the Senate is introducing a bill this week, the last in the legislative session.
Bruce Dunn, who lives in Butternuts, Otsego County, said he has been in constant pain since rolling over in a small truck in 1988. Fred McLaughlin of Suffolk County, who has multiple sclerosis, said marijuana enabled him to regain full sight by relieving tension in his optic nerve, and it has gotten rid of numbness he had experienced. McLaughlin, 32, said marijuana is the only medicine that has helped him. Both men have to obtain it illegally.
Twelve states allow limited use of marijuana for medical purposes, Gottfried said. “The current prohibition (in New York) is political correctness run amok,” he said.
The Senate bill would set up state dispensaries for patients to get the drug. Gottfried said the Assembly bill does not do that because the federal government can shut them down for being in violation of federal law. The Assembly bill allows someone to have up to 12 marijuana plants or 2.5 ounces of it. It remains to be seen whether they can compromise on a bill.
Read More... (http://statepolitics.lohudblogs.com/2007/06/18/purchasing-pain-medicine-on-the-street/)
Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, D-Manhattan, just held a news conference with two men—one from outside Oneonta and one from Long Island—who use marijuana for medicinal purposes. Gottfried sponsored a medical marijuana bill that the Assembly passed last week, and the Senate is introducing a bill this week, the last in the legislative session.
Bruce Dunn, who lives in Butternuts, Otsego County, said he has been in constant pain since rolling over in a small truck in 1988. Fred McLaughlin of Suffolk County, who has multiple sclerosis, said marijuana enabled him to regain full sight by relieving tension in his optic nerve, and it has gotten rid of numbness he had experienced. McLaughlin, 32, said marijuana is the only medicine that has helped him. Both men have to obtain it illegally.
Twelve states allow limited use of marijuana for medical purposes, Gottfried said. “The current prohibition (in New York) is political correctness run amok,” he said.
The Senate bill would set up state dispensaries for patients to get the drug. Gottfried said the Assembly bill does not do that because the federal government can shut them down for being in violation of federal law. The Assembly bill allows someone to have up to 12 marijuana plants or 2.5 ounces of it. It remains to be seen whether they can compromise on a bill.
Read More... (http://statepolitics.lohudblogs.com/2007/06/18/purchasing-pain-medicine-on-the-street/)