Patients in New York state should have the option to use prescribed pot to seek relief from a variety of ailments
By Richard Carlton,
At long last, the New York state Senate is scheduled to take up the issue of the Compassionate Care Act, a bill that would allow seriously ill patients access to medical marijuana (cannabis) under the supervision of their health care provider. The bill has been passed by the Senate Health Committee, and is now awaiting a vote in the Finance Committee.
As a physician and also as a caregiver, passage of this bill can't come soon enough.
I've carefully reviewed the scientific literature, and I know that medical cannabis can help a lot of patients who right now are forced to either suffer needlessly, break the law to get cannabis medicinals, or move to one of the 22 states that have passed medical marijuana laws. There are tens of thousands of journal articles on the medical uses of cannabis and cannabinoids. Over 110 of those articles are human efficacy studies that document the benefits of medical cannabis in treating a wide range of important diseases.
Some of those efficacy studies were based on double-blind, placebo-controlled "gold standard" studies, published in the peer-reviewed literature.
This literature makes clear that people living with cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, migraines, neuropathy, pinched nerves, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, HIV/AIDS, ALS and numerous other conditions may all benefit from medical cannabis.
It is not just the potential for my patients that is moving me. As a caregiver to my wife of 40 years, who has Parkinson's disease that is poorly responsive to medications, I want to see if cannabis can relieve her suffering and improve the quality of her life. Clinical research has shown that cannabis significantly reduces Parkinsonian tremors and rigidity.
And yet, right now, because I refuse to break the law, I have to stand by and watch her suffer.
There's nothing more painful than watching someone you love decline in health, especially knowing that there is a medicine that could help him or her. If someone in your family were suffering, wouldn't you do whatever you could to help them?
The Compassionate Care Act is a carefully crafted piece of legislation that balances patient access with strict regulatory provisions to prevent diversion and misuse. In fact, under the bill, medical cannabis would be more tightly regulated than prescription opioids.
Seriously ill patients with certain conditions that have been shown in studies to benefit from medical cannabis would be able to talk openly with their health care providers about whether or not cannabis might help alleviate their symptoms. The bill would allow those that could truly benefit from medical cannabis to access it legally and safely.
That's why I am calling on the Senate's leaders, co-presidents Jeff Klein and Dean Skelos, to allow the bill to the floor for a vote. The Assembly has passed the bill five times. Over 80 percent of New York voters support access to medical marijuana. Hundred of New York doctors, like me, want this as a treatment option for patients.
It's time for doctors, not politicians, to decide the best treatment for patients. Too many people have suffered too long. It's time for the Senate to stand on the side of compassion and of science, and pass this bill now.
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