My epiphany on medical marijuana
Igrew up in a conservative, Italian-American home in a different era, when marijuana was nothing more than “reefer madness.” I began my service in the U.S. Senate as Ronald Reagan became our President and First Lady Nancy Reagan led the charge to “just say no.” Nobody was more anti-drugs than I was.
However, as I have learned more about marijuana, particularly medical marijuana, over the last several years, my views — like the views of most Americans — have changed.
Before I explain, it’s crucial to distinguish between marijuana — which we have learned has significant medical benefits for many ailments and diseases — and dangerous drugs, particularly heroin and other opioids. The current opioid abuse crisis engulfing urban, suburban and rural communities across our country must be addressed in a bipartisan and comprehensive way. Of course, when used properly, opioids can help patients with many conditions — but they’re also prone to creating powerful and destructive addictions.
Marijuana is different. Based on research and experience both here and abroad, we’ve seen the indisputable benefits of medical marijuana. It’s helping countless Americans suffering with pain, epilepsy, the side effects of chemotherapy and other debilitating ailments.
That’s why I’m proud to be working with the just-launched New York affiliate of the Marijuana Policy Project as we work to ensure that New York’s nascent medical marijuana program becomes the best that it can be and hopefully the best in the nation.
Gov. Cuomo and the state Legislature were wise to enact the medical marijuana program in New York three years ago. And although the program got off to a slow start, thanks to Cuomo’s leadership, it has improved greatly in the last year as the state has made the treatment available for more conditions and is working to make it easier for patients to gain access to medicines they need.
The governor and Legislature are to be commended for their openness to helping New Yorkers have access to this medicine that can greatly improve their health and quality of life. Recent improvements include adding chronic pain to the list of eligible conditions and allowing nurse practitioners and physician’s assistants — not just doctors — to recommend medical marijuana.
Earlier this year, the Legislature passed a bill to expand the medical marijuana program to those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. According to the National Center for PTSD, about 8% of all Americans, including upwards of 20% of veterans who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq or Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, will suffer from PTSD at some point in their lives.
The governor should sign this into law, and soon. But that’s only a start.
New York should look at the possible use of medical marijuana to see if it can be helpful in fighting the scourge of the opioid crisis that’s so devastating to families across our state and the country.
A 2014 study published by JAMA Internal Medicine found the mortality rate from opioid overdoses was 25% lower in states with any kind of medical marijuana law.
Nor should we stop the conversation with expanding access to medical marijuana. There is growing support for New York to legalize adult use of marijuana as eight other states — including our neighbor, Massachusetts — have done.
There was a time in my life when I would have been unequivocally opposed to such an idea. However, as I’ve gotten older and learned more, and as adult use continues to gain momentum across the country, it is clearly becoming time to have that debate in New York.
It must be a serious discussion. The state should consider all the factors — pluses, minuses, safeguards, controls — just as it did with the medical program.
For starters, let’s make our medical marijuana program work as well as it can to relieve suffering of as many people as possible. If we succeed in that, it will be something that Gov. Cuomo will be proud to brag about, and rightly so.