New York Legalizes Medical Marijuana:

[Spartan]

New York became the latest state to permit the use of medical marijuana on Monday.

At a news conference in New York City, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the Compassionate Care Act, which allows doctors to prescribe marijuana in a nonsmokable form to patients with serious ailments that are recognized by the state on a predefined but flexible list of conditions.

 

The bill was passed by the State Assembly and Senate in June, said Jason Elan, a spokesman for Sen. Diane Savino, a sponsor of the bill.

Cuomo said Monday that it was difficult to develop and pass the bill because it needed to embrace increased medical acceptance of marijuana while rejecting situations and conditions that state legislators said could have "good intent and bad results."

 

"There is no doubt that medical marijuana can help people," Cuomo said Monday. "We are here to help people. And if there is a medical advancement, then we want to make sure that we're bringing it to New Yorkers."

 

Senate Co-Leader Jeffrey D. Klein said the "patient-centric program" will provide relief to thousands of people and will be "one of the safest, most tightly regulated medical marijuana programs in the country."

 

The legalization of medical marijuana has had "overwhelming support" in state polls, State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has said in a statement.

[Maximus]