ALBANY — The GOP-controlled state Senate on Tuesday easily approved legislation that allows medical marijuana to be used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder.
“Patients in New York State should have the option to try what works for them,” Sen. Diane Savino (D-Staten Island), the bill’s sponsor, told the The Daily News.
The Senate voted 50-13 in favor of the measure despite arguments from some critics, including Sen. Thomas Croci, (R-Suffolk County), chair of the Senate’s veterans committee, that there was not enough evidence that medical marijuana was effective in treating PTSD.
“I think we are premature,” Crocci said during the debate.
The Senate’s approval means the bill now heads to Gov. Cuomo’s desk, where its fate is uncertain.
Rich Azzopardi, a spokesman for the governor, said Cuomo will review the legislation.
The Democrat-controlled Assembly passed the measure earlier this year and Savino, with the backing of veterans’ advocates, had been pressing the Senate to follow suit.
Currently, medical marijuana can be used in New York to treat only a handful of serious illnesses and conditions, including cancer, HIV and AIDS, Lou Gehrig’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases, epilepsy, some spinal cord injuries and multiple sclerosis. In December, the state added chronic pain to the list of conditions.
The Legisalture’s move to add PTSD to the list of ailments comes as medical marijuana is coming under greater scrutiny at the federal level. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is vehement opponent of marijuana use.
Meanwhile, U.S. Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin said earlier this month that medical marijuana could help veterans and suggested the VA will look into studying what effects medical marijuana is having on veterans in states where it’s legal.
credit:nydailynews.com
