New York Newest State to Pass Law on Medical Marijuana
New York has become the 23rd state across the United States to legalized medical marijuana. The law was signed on July 7th and is known as New York’s Compassionate Care Act. This will allow individuals stated under the law to be able to possess and consume medical marijuana.
This medical marijuana law is quite different from the others however because of the stipulations behind it. The rules behind the law include the following.
• No more than 5 private organizations will be licensed for production and distribution of the medical marijuana, each of those organizations can have up to 4 dispensaries. Each of these organizations must enter into a labor peace agreement with its employees.
• The patients that receive the medical marijuana must also be deemed “disabled” under the state human right law. This means that they must have a “serious condition” which is defined as having “severe debilitating or life-threatening conditions.” Some of these conditions include; cancer, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, plus many more serious diseases. These patients can obtain a 30 day amount and can “refill” the prescription a week before running out.
All of these rules behind the law is going to make getting medical marijuana more difficult for patients who do not have serious conditions. In an article by Daniel A. Medina he explains that only about 10% of patients who can use medical marijuana will actually be legally allowed to obtain a medical card.
In the same article Medina talks about how the state will be able to charge 7% tax on the marijuana. As well as the fact that patients will not be able to smoke the marijuana but can consume it through oils, pills, food, and vapors.
Only time will tell how the law will hold up with all the stipulations behind it, but at least New York is taking the next step in allowing medical marijuana be legal across the state.
Sources for this blog provided by; http://qz.com/231898/new-yorks-new-medical-marijuana-law-is-the-worst-in-the-us/
