New York State Is Set to Loosen Marijuana Laws

[malaise]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/05/nyregion/new-york-state-is-set-to-loosen-marijuana-laws.html?_r=0
<snip>
Joining a growing group of states that have loosened restrictions on marijuana, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York plans this week to announce an executive action that would allow limited use of the drug by those with serious illnesses, state officials say.

The turnabout by Mr. Cuomo, who had long resisted legalizing medical marijuana, comes as other states are taking increasingly liberal positions on it — most notably Colorado, where thousands have flocked to buy the drug for recreational use since it became legal on Jan. 1.

Mr. Cuomo’s plan will be far more restrictive than the laws in Colorado or California, where medical marijuana is available to people with conditions as mild as backaches. It will allow just 20 hospitals across the state to prescribe marijuana to patients with cancer, glaucoma or other diseases that meet standards to be set by the New York State Department of Health.

While Mr. Cuomo’s measure falls well short of full legalization, it nonetheless moves New York, long one of the nation’s most punitive states for those caught using or dealing drugs, a significant step closer to policies being embraced by marijuana advocates and lawmakers elsewhere.
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It's over - follow the money

[CatWoman]

1. my thoughts exactly

everyone is drooling over the millions made in Colorado - they want a piece of the pie.

[malaise]

2. We should have ignored everyone and legalized it after Canasol was such a hit

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20030824/lead/lead3.html
<snip>
CANASOL, THE locally produced drug used for the treatment of the eye disease, glaucoma, is now in high demand both on the local and international market.

The product, a derivative from cannabis (ganja), was at first received with much scepticism and doubt, but according to ophthalmologist Dr. Albert Lockhart, one of the developers of the product, patients from Florida, California, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., New York and Massachusetts in the United States are now using it.

"We have to try to educate people and let them know that Canasol does not contain any psychoactive agents" from ganja, he said.

The product is currently being distributed in Jamaica by Medi-Grace Limited and, according to Dr. Lockhart, they have also exported to England, some Caribbean islands, and it is sold directly based on doctor's prescriptions from the United States.

According to sources at Medi -Grace Limited, an average of 400 units are sold per month, and pharmacists across Jamaica have agreed that "the product sells like hot bread."
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Instead the morons here were trying to apologize and make excuses about psychoactive agents. A decade later, Jamaica wouldn't be at the mercy of the IMF.

This prohibition is over - money time.