MEDICAL MARIJUANA MEASURE ADVANCES;

Albany Committee OKs Bill That Would Allow Ill to Use Drug to Ease Pain

For the first time since it was introduced in 1997, a bill that would allow
seriously ill people to smoke marijuana to ease pain and other medical
troubles was voted out of the Assembly Health Committee on Tuesday.

The committee voted 16-6 to report the measure, which would require doctors
to certify that patients have a serious condition and could benefit from
the use of

marijuana. Patients could receive a month's supply of marijuana from
organizations authorized by the state Health Department to grow and
distribute it.

The bill, championed by Health Committee Chairman Richard Gottfried,
D-Manhattan, must still be approved by two other committees before going to
the full Democrat-dominated Assembly for a vote. It also lacks a sponsor in
the Republican-controlled Senate and is not supported by GOP Gov. George
Pataki.

But those hurdles did not stop the bill's backers from voicing a sense of
accomplishment Tuesday. They said support is building for their cause.

"Approval of this bill by the Assembly Health Committee is a historic first
step," said Vincent Marrone, lobbyist for New Yorkers for Compassionate
Care, a pro-medical marijuana group funded by Peter Lewis, chairman of the
Progressive Insurance Co. in Cleveland. "It provides hope to people ...
across the state that would benefit from its enactment."

Most of the Republican members of the Health Committee voted against the
bill, with the exception of Assemblyman Joel Miller of Poughkeepsie, who
not only raised his hand in favor of the legislation, but also signed on as
a sponsor.

"We should not be embarrassed about taking drugs, even if they may be
street drugs, and using them appropriately," said Miller, who is a dentist.
"If this is at all helpful to people, I don't see why we can't move forward."

Maureen O'Connell, a Nassau County Republican, voiced concern that doctors
will be prescribing marijuana to patients without knowing the dosage of
tetrahydrocannabinol, pot's main psychoactive ingredient, the strength of
which can vary. But Gottfried said patients would discover the strength of
the marijuana they are given very quickly and would self-regulate their dosage.

Eight other states have already passed medical marijuana laws, but the
federal government is testing the legality of such measures in court.