Savino narrows marijuana bill to address GOP concerns
Laura Nahmias
ALBANY—Senate sponsors of a bill to legalize medical marijuana have amended the bill to narrow the kinds of health conditions the drug can be prescribed to treat, in hopes of increasing the bill’s chances of passage this year.
Earlier versions of the Compassionate Care Act, sponsored by I.D.C. senator Diane Savino, included broad language that would allow the drug to be prescribed for a variety of conditions and cancers, which raised concern among some Republican senators who worried it could lead to abuse of the drug.
The new language would allow medical marijuana to be prescribed for specifically enumerated “serious condition(s)” including cancer, HIV/AIDS, and a variety of neurological, gastrointestinal and auto-immune diseases, as well as mental disorders including post-traumatic stress disorder and for chronic conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and diabetes.
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2014/04/8544362/savino-narrows-marijuana-bill-address-gop-concerns
