New York Legalizes Medical Marijuana (with Strings Attached)

New York became the 23^rd state to legalize medical marijuana when Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the Compassionate Care Act (CCA) into law. In 2015, New Yorkers who suffer from cancer, AIDs, ALS, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord damage, epilepsy, and inflammatory bowel disease can use marijuana to help treat their conditions.

However, the CCA has a number of differences which make it unique compared to medical marijuana programs of other states.

1. The Department of Health has the power to price the medicine purchased. New York will start with a 7% tax.
2. Even qualified patients aren’t allowed to smoke marijuana. Patients will be forced to mix marijuana with food, ingest pills, or breathe vapors instead. The only other state which legalizes medical marijuana but prohibits smoking is Minnesota.
3. New York patients can’t grow their own marijuana. They must buy it from a state regulated dispensary. Finally, physicians who prescribe more than 2.5 ounces will be subject to penalties.

In short, New York will have the most regulated medical marijuana program in the country. Governor Cuomo and state legislators believe the law strikes an appropriate balance between medical need and public health. “Public health” means making sure people don’t abuse marijuana or use it as a gateway drug to more dangerous substances like heroin.

The problem is that the rules don’t correlate with public health. The smoking prohibition looks like a means to protect public health, but bans on tobacco smoking in public areas could easily be extended to marijuana. The ban on smoking will not guard against second-hand smoking. Forcing patients to ingest rather than smoke marijuana will cause patients to spend more money on the drug.

It is also difficult to understand how a tax would prevent addicted potheads from spending all their cash on weed. Given that patients must buy from state approved dispensaries, the CCA looks more like a way for the state to make money than to help sick patients. Of course, any amount of medical marijuana is better than none.