N.Y. set to legalize non-smokeable medical marijuana

ALBANY – New York is poised to legalize medical marijuana in non-smokeable forms for patients with serious illnesses.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders announced Thursday an agreement that would allow doctors to prescribe marijuana to those with diseases or disorders such as cancer, AIDS and epilepsy, but wouldn't allow patients to smoke the drug.

The deal came on the last scheduled day of the state's 2014 legislative session and was one of several agreements struck between Cuomo and top lawmakers, including a measure that would delay the consequences of poor Common Core-based test scores for teacher evaluations.

At a news conference Thursday, Cuomo called the medical-marijuana agreement "the best of both worlds." Marijuana will be made available to patients in need, but there are safeguards in place to ensure the program isn't abused, he said.

"There are certainly significant medical benefits that can be garnered," Cuomo said during a news conference Thursday. "At the same time, it's a difficult issue because there are also risks that have to be averted — public-health risks, public-safety risks — and we believe this bill strikes the right balance."

Lawmakers were expected to approve the bill — which hadn't yet been printed Thursday evening — late Thursday night or early Friday. The state's medical-marijuana program would aim to be up and running within 18 months and would include a clause that would allow the governor to suspend the program on the advice of his health or police commissioner. The drug would be taxed at 7 percent of gross sales.

Kate Hintz of North Salem said she was pleased a deal was reached, but wanted to review all the details. She's been a regular at the Capitol to lobby for the bill. Her 3-year-old daughter, Morgan, suffers from Dravet syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy that has responded favorably to oil-based treatments in other states.

"From what I heard today, this will be a bill that will be able to serve the pediatric population and also the epileptic population," Hintz said. "Obviously, these are very broad details."

The marijuana would be grown in New York at five state-approved sites and would be dispensed at 20 outlets across the state. The places where the marijuana is grown and distributed would share in the revenue from the sales, state officials said, and the outlets would be spread across New York.

Unlike some other states, the bill would not allow patients to smoke marijuana, which had been opposed by Cuomo. Instead, other forms of delivering the drug — including vaporization and oil-based cannabis extracts — would be authorized. About a dozen diseases could be treated under the regulations that would be developed by the Health Department.

Advocates said they were concerned about the limited availability of marijuana, but were pleased that an agreement could be reached. New York would become the 23rd state to have a medical-marijuana program, according the Drug Policy Alliance, an advocacy group. Other states, including Florida and Utah, have approved programs that allow only oil-based cannabis extracts.

"New York has finally done something significant for thousands of patients who are suffering and need relief now. They will benefit from this compromise," said Gabriel Sayegh, the group's director. "That said, this is not the bill we wanted."

Cuomo announced the agreement while flanked by Senate Co-Leader Jeff Klein, D-Bronx, and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan. The Republican co-leader of the Senate, Dean Skelos of Nassau County, was not present, but Klein said he was confident the measure would pass with a number of GOP votes.

A spokesman for Senate Republicans did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

The bill will implement criminal penalties for patients or doctors who abuse the system, state police Commissioner Joseph D'Amico said. A doctor who fraudulently prescribes the drug will be subject to a felony, while a card-holding patient who sells the marijuana will be subject to a misdemeanor.

"This bill doesn't allow the line between lawful and unlawful to be clouded," D'Amico said.

Cuomo had been opposed to medical marijuana early in his term, but in January announced he would unilaterally allow up to 20 hospitals to prescribe the drug for research purposes.

But advocates were critical of Cuomo's plan for not being broad enough, and Sen. Diane Savino, D-Staten Island, and Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, D-Manhattan, continued to push a bill that would authorize medical marijuana more broadly.

Savino said Thursday it was important to reach an agreement to help those in need before the session ends for the year this week. Children, in particular, would be aided by oil-based marijuana, she said, and patients have increasingly started to use vaporized forms of medical marijuana, including e-cigarette varieties.

"For the children who you've all seen here daily, who will benefit from oils, how could we say no and stand in the way on smoking?" Savino said outside Cuomo's office. "It just made no sense."

The details

Here's are some details on the medical-marijuana program expected to be approved by New York lawmakers:

• Medical marijuana would be available to patients with cancer, HIV/AIDS, Lou Gehrig's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, significant damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord, epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease, neuropathies, Huntington's disease and other conditions added by the state Department of Health.

• Only doctors certified by the state Department of Health would be able to prescribe marijuana. It would be grown in New York in five locations and dispensed at 20 outlets.

• Only non-smokeable forms of marijuana and cannabis would be allowed.

• The drug would be taxed at 7 percent of gross sales, with proceeds split between the state and the counties where the drug was sold and manufactured.

• The program would expire after seven years, though the governor could suspend it on the advice of state police or the Department of Health.