New York Governor Andrew Cuomo will announce plans at his annual State of the State address on Wednesday to relax limits on marijuana to allow for medical use of the drug, UPI.com reported. The governor's office said that the governor plans to use an executive action to bypass the state legislature.
Administration officials said that the "medical marijuana policy will be more restrictive than in states like Colorado and California and subject to the New York Health Department standards," according to The Washington Post.
"The governor didn't want to wait. Moving forward with this interim step," said Drug Policy Alliance's Gabriel Sayegh.
Medical marijuana would become available to people with serious illnesses from 20 hospitals throughout New York.
"It's clear [Governor Cuomo] realizes marijuana can be helping people that are seriously ill. Cuomo has said previously he felt he could evolve on this issue, so it's nice to see he's evolving, but he still has some catching up to do with his constituents," said Mason Tvert, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project, a nationwide advocacy group.
Robert Robins, co-director of the New York Cannabis Alliance said that "Robert Robinson, co-director of the New York Cannabis Alliance, adding he feared the limited scope of an executive order would make applying for a license and obtaining the drug a burdensome process," UPI.com also reported.
"In states that permit medical marijuana, it is commonly prescribed for chronic pain, nausea from cancer chemotherapy, glaucoma and some other conditions. Other controlled substances like narcotics are already authorized for medical use in New York," as reported by The Washington Post.
