Provides for medical use of marihuana

Summary of specific provisions

Section 1 Legislative findings and intent.

Section 2. Amends the Public Health Law by adding a new Title V-A, Medical Use of Marihuana. New §3360 defines caregiver, certified medical use, certified patient, medical use, public place, registered organization, and serious condition.

New §3361 allows a licensed practitioner (the defined term in the Public Health Law for people who may prescribe controlled substances) to certify that a patient has a serious condition that in the practitioner's judgment can and should be treated with the medical use of marihuana, and that other drugs or treatments would not be as effective. A copy of the certification will be sent to the Health Department, a copy will be placed in the patient's medical records, and the patient will get the original. A doctor is not allowed to certify medical marihuana for himself or herself. A certification will authorize the dispensing of a month's supply of marihuana and can be re-authorized up to 5 times before a new certification would have to be written. This is similar to the process for prescribing controlled substances.

New §3362 allows the possession or manufacture of marihuana by a certified patient for medical use; by a caregiver of a certified patient, to deliver or administer it to the patient for medical use; and by a registered organization (as spelled out in new §3363). Possession or manufacture of marihuana is not allowed if it is in a public place or is more than eight ounces. Registered organizations are allowed to sell or distribute marihuana to a certified patient or caregiver for medical use; federal, state and local law enforcement agencies are allowed to sell or distribute marihuana to registered organizations; and a caregiver may provide marihuana to the caregiver's certified patient.

New §3363 provides that a registered organization must be a not-for-profit corporation, the Health Department, or a local health department and must be licensed under §3364 of the Public Health Law, which governs the manufacture and distribution of controlled substances. Registered organizations may not sell or dispense more than a thirty day supply of marihuana to a certified patient or caregiver and must enclose it in a suitable container, as defined in this section.

New §3364 provides the procedure for the registration of registered organizations. This procedure is similar to the procedure for licensure to manufacture and distribute controlled substances (§3312 of the Public Health Law).

New §3365 requires practitioners to file reports with the Health Department including the identity of the patient, the specified condition of the certification, the name and address of the practitioner, a brief statement of the level and pattern of marihuana use, and the effectiveness of medical marihuana.

New §3366 authorizes the Department to analyze and evaluate reports filed by practitioners and registered organizations under this title. The Department can develop, obtain federal approval for, and carry out research on medical marihuana. Practitioners, patients, and registered organizations could participate on a voluntary basis. Every two years, beginning one year after the title becomes law, the Department will issue a report to the Governor and Legislature on the medical use of marihuana and make appropriate recommendations.

New §3367 applies other provisions of Article 33 to this title. Where a provision of this title conflicts with another provision of Article 33, this title applies.. Section 3 of the bill directs the Health Department to contract with a third party to conduct an evaluation that will include, but not be limited to, an analysis of the practical operation of this act, the clinical value of medical use of marihuana under this act, and the effect (if any) on illegal use of controlled substances.

Section 4 of the bill provides for an immediate effective date and a sunset on December 31 of the fifth year after the bill becomes law.

Justification

Thousands of New Yorkers have serious medical conditions that May benefit from medical use of marihuana. The National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine concluded in a 1999 report that "nausea, appetite loss, pain and anxiety...all can be mitigated by marihuana." Doctors and patients have documented that marihuana can be an effective treatment -- where other medications have failed -- for at least some patients who suffer from HIV/AIDS, cancer, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and other life-threatening or debilitating conditions. Although other drugs are more effective than marihuana for some patients, the Institute of Medicine noted that "there will likely always be a subpopulation of patients who do not respond well to other medications." Medical marihuana must be available to those patients. The active ingredient in marijuana, THC, has been approved for medical use by the Federal Food and Drug Administration and the Drug Enforcement Agency since 1986 in synthetic pill form. But consuming it in natural form - which many physicians say is more effective - continues to be illegal. In an editorial in the January 30, 1997 New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Jerome P. Kassirer, editor of the Journal, explained that inhaling THC is more effective than taking the synthetic pill: "smoking marijuana produces a rapid increase in the blood level of the active ingredients and is thus more likely to be therapeutic." It also enables tighter control of the amount ingested. According to the Institute of Medicine, "it is well recognized that (the) oral route of administration hampers its effectiveness because of slow absorption and patients' desire for more control over dosing." Legalizing the medical use of effective medicine does not undermine the message that non-medical use of illegal drugs is wrong, Robert Shear, who has 32 years experience in alcohol and drug addiction services and was Director of the NYS Division of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse for 4 years made this point several times

during his testimony at a public hearing on this issue in December 2002, supporting medical marihuana legislation. Many controlled substances that are legal for medical use (such as morphine, Valium and steroids) are otherwise illegal. In the same New England Journal of Medicine editorial, Dr. Kassirer argued that "it is also hypocritical to forbid physicians to prescribe marijuana while permitting them to use morphine and meperidine to relieve extreme dyspnea and pain." The bill's provisions parallel the Public Health Law's extensive provisions and safeguards governing the medical use of controlled sub stances. The bill amends the Public Health Law rather than the Penal Law because the Penal Law's controlled substances provisions all relate back to the Public Health Law. Thus, all the acts that the bill makes lawful under the Public Health Law would, by definition, be legal under the Penal Law.

Legislative history

2003-2004: S.4805 - Died in Committee 2005-2006: S.1062 - Died in Committee 2007-2008: S.4768 - Died in Committee

Fiscal implications

None

Local fiscal implications

None.

EFFECTIVE. DATE: Immediately. The Department of Health shall make regulations within 180 days. The bill will sunset on December 31 of the fifth year after the act becomes law.