Medical pot may toke bit of a wait
ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo provided a buzz-kill Monday to a new legislative push to legalize medicinal marijuana that is being fired up.
Cuomo said the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes — an idea that has kicked about Albany for years — has “tremendous risks,” and is unlikely to be taken up by the Legislature this year.
“I understand the benefits, but there are also risks, and I think the risks outweigh the benefits at this point,” Cuomo said, reiterating the position he took during his 2010 campaign for governor.
Cuomo, speaking in upstate Utica, said the issue of legalizing pot for medical use could be reevaluated after further research is done, but noted the state currently has a “terrible problem” with drug use.
Staten Island state Sen. Diane Savino is the lead sponsor of a medical marijuana bill that is expected to be submitted to the Legislature soon. But Cuomo expressed doubt there would be enough time for the Legislature to address the measure before its session ends in June. “That issue is going to take a great deal of time to analyze it properly,” he said.
Savino herself conceded it would be “wildly optimistic” to expect action by the Legislature in 2012 — an election year. But hers is a two-year strategy. “It would take at least a year to get the bill right and lay the ground work within the Legislature,” said Savino, a member of the Senate’s maverick Independent Democratic Conference.
Another source involved in the effort said the strategy for a 2013 victory stresses both the medical and economic benefits to be gained by allowing the regulated sale of medical pot. “We want to get away from the tiedyed shirts as much as possible,” the source said, referring to marijuana’s image of promoting the do-nothing, stoner lifestyle.
Sixteen other states have legalized marijuana for medical purposes, but legislation in New York has repeatedly stalled in Albany. Opposition has been strongest in the Gop-controlled state Senate. “I don’t see it happening,” said Sen. Martin Golden (R-brooklyn).