The law regarding medical marijuana rolled out in New York on January 7 is said to be one of the strictest of all 23 states that have legalized medical marijuana. Many argue that the law is overly restrictive to the point of being unworkable.
Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the Compassionate Care Act, a bill legalizing access to medical marijuana, in June 2014. But it took 18 months for the approved bill to be implemented. According to MMJ Observer, the core requirements of the law make it very restrictive and difficult for many patients to have medical marijuana.
New York's medical marijuana law only permits non-smokeable forms of marijuana, such as edibles, tinctures, or capsule for oral administration. Patients would also be allowed to inhale if the drug was vaporized, similar to e-cigarettes.
According to New York's medical marijuana law Commissioner, only up to five organizations can be registered to manufacture and dispense approved medical marijuana in New York State. The five marijuana growers may initially produce up to five brands with prior approval of the official and are expected to operate twenty total dispensaries throughout the state.
Only a handful of "severe, debilitating or life threatening" health conditions qualify for medical marijuana treatment in New York. The health conditions including cancer, HIV/AIDS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), parkinson's disease, epilepsy, and 10 other conditions.
In order to prescribe medical marijuana, doctors must first complete a $249 four hour online training course and they must register with the state. So far, only 226 of the New York State's 79,000 active physicians have completed the necessary steps to become eligible to recommend medical marijuana to patients, Village Voice reported.
Meanwhile, only 166 patients have registered with state to obtain medical marijuana from roughly 500,000 patients across the state qualify to receive treatment.
Julie Netherland of the Drug Policy Alliance, part of a coalition that lobbied to get the bill passed, said its hard to celebrate the passing bill as a success. "I don't think, for those of us who fought so hard to pass this bill, this is what we were fighting for," said Netherland.
Another significant concern is the limited number of dispensaries of medical marijuana. There are only eight out of the anticipated twenty dispensaries thoughout the state.
Critics are also worried about the affordability of the program for low-income patients, as according to the law, health insurance does not cover medical marijuana.
The lawmakers argued that the legislation had to be written thoughtfully, to avoid possible future pitfalls.
Richard Gottried, the man who wrote, sponsored and sphepherded the New York medical marijuana bill on its difficult legislative journey, says the job is far from done.
