Monday, January 6, 2014

Cuomo to legalize medical marijuana

From the NY Times:

Joining a growing group of states that have loosened restrictions on marijuana, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York plans this week to announce an executive action that would allow limited use of the drug by those with serious illnesses, state officials say.

The shift by Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat who had long resisted legalizing medical marijuana, comes as other states are taking increasingly liberal positions on it — most notably Colorado, where thousands have flocked to buy the drug for recreational use since it became legal on Jan. 1.

Mr. Cuomo’s plan will be far more restrictive than the laws in Colorado or California, where medical marijuana is available to people with conditions as mild as backaches. It will allow just 20 hospitals across the state to prescribe marijuana to patients with cancer, glaucoma or other diseases that meet standards to be set by the New York State Department of Health.

While Mr. Cuomo’s measure falls well short of full legalization, it nonetheless moves New York, long one of the nation’s most punitive states for those caught using or dealing drugs, a significant step closer to policies being embraced by marijuana advocates and lawmakers elsewhere.

New York hopes to have the infrastructure in place this year to begin dispensing medical marijuana, although it is too soon to say when it will actually be available to patients.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

What an ugly mugg!

Joe Moretti said...

Just legalize pot, period. I do not see any reason to keep it illegal at this point.

J said...

Colorado has seen an immediate spike in tourism.If that should not be enough to decriminalize pot.

another benefit of smoking pot:its a mood enhancer as well,which eliminates the need for zoloft or xanax.

Anonymous said...

Just legalize it already!

Anonymous said...

Legal marijuana has one purpose and one purpose only, and that is the placation of the masses. It is a plantation weed to make sure the slaves are kept fat and docile, MAAAAAN.

Steve Miller said...

'Cause I'm a picker, I'm a grinner
I'm a lover and I'm a sinner
I play my music in the sun

I'm a joker, I'm a smoker
I'm a midnight toker
I get my lovin' on the run

Anonymous said...

This is the Opium trade repeating it's self only marijuana being the choice to keep a large portion of the population dumb & dumber.
The side effects of marijuana are terrible and most people are unaware of them. There is a reason they call it "Dope". So when you light up your next Joint remember Mary Jane if fucking up your brain dude.

Anonymous said...

Sorry Is not if, Typo !
So hey, like Dude, did you know that......wait shit i forgot what i was typing about"

Joe Moretti said...

ANON stated: "This is the Opium trade repeating it's self only marijuana being the choice to keep a large portion of the population dumb & dumber. The side effects of marijuana are terrible and most people are unaware of them. There is a reason they call it "Dope". So when you light up your next Joint remember Mary Jane if fucking up your brain dude. "

----------------
You my friend are so very misinformed like so many. As far as health issues or side effects there are pretty much none, as opposed to alcohol and cigarettes, which cause heart problems, cancer, emphysema and both are addictive. Over all the years, there still has been no studies about health risks associated with pot. You mentioned the "side effects, but yet did not name none, because there are none.

As far as "dumb" for pot smokers, REALLY, some of the best music and writings, that you probably listened to or read was while high. There is no correlation between pot smoking and "dumb and dumber".

I love uninformed and misinformed people. Know the subject you are talking about before making blatant false statement about the subject. You sound like Fox News, just say it and it makes it automatically right, regardless of facts.

Anonymous said...

Hey Joe,
It has been found that consuming one joint gives as much exposure to cancer-producing chemicals as smoking ten cigarettes. It's also proven that marijuana smokers have poorer memories and mental aptitude.
To quote a know drug using musician who died at 28 -
Hey Joe, where you goin' with that joint in your mouth ?
ROFLMAO

Joe Moretti said...

Anonymous said...

Hey Joe,
It has been found that consuming one joint gives as much exposure to cancer-producing chemicals as smoking ten cigarettes. It's also proven that marijuana smokers have poorer memories and mental aptitude.
----------

Wow, where did you find that factoid about one joint giving as much exposure to cancer as ten cigarettes. Have never seen that in any research, plus it does not even make any sense. Not to say that there is absolutely no link, especially for heavy pot smokers but In the June 2013 edition of Annals of the American Thoracic Society, Donald P. Tashkin, MD, emeritus professor of medicine at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine, says that light to moderate marijuana use does not cause increased lung cancer risk and that the verdict is not out on heavy use.

And no it is not true that pot smokers have poorer memories and mental aptitude, I guess if you smoke 24/7, but most pot smokers do smoke 24/7.

By the way Jimi Hendrix did not die of an overdose of pot, in fact there is no such thing as anyone overdosing on pot and dying as is the case with alcohol.

Come up with actual facts, then we will talk.

Anonymous said...

Pot has ruined thus nation. It's a government conspiracy to mke pot legal so that they can control our lives. Just how the Communists took over ....

Anonymous said...

Anon no. 12: Did you ever hear the story about how pot makes you paranoid?

Anonymous said...

They call it DOPE because you turn into one when you use it long term ! Google "toxins in marijuana" and read for yourself the dangers found in this so called natural plant.
Start here on Web MD :
http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/news/20071214/study-shows-toxins-in-marijuana-smoke