GROUP URGES LEGAL MEDICAL MARIJUANA IN N.Y.

ALBANY - New York should legalize marijuana for medicinal use to ease
the pain of cancer and AIDS patients, and others with debilitating
pain, a coalition of patients, physicians and Democratic legislators
said Wednesday.

iThere are thousands of New Yorkers with serious medical conditions
whose lives can be made better, and in some cases longer, with medical
marijuana,i said Assembly Health Committee Chairman Richard Gottfried,
D-Manhattan, who led a hearing on the issue.

Gottfried has introduced a bill that would allow physicians to
prescribe marijuana in certain, limited circumstances and in limited
amounts. Eight other states have similar laws, although the federal
government is testing the legality of such measures.

Other controlled substances, such as morphine and valium, are employed
for legitimate medical purposes, Gottfried said. A majority of the
public is 'way out in front of the politicians' about the justifiable
use of the drug, he said.

Politicians have been slow to commit because they're afraid of being
labeled 'soft on drugs,' he said.

'I think what's holding up this legislation is not any professional or
organized opposition ... but the understandable nervousness of my
colleagues any time the subject of drugs comes up,' Gottfried said.

Gov. George Pataki doesn't favor such legislation. 'The professionals
at the state Health Department believe there are other options
available' for pain sufferers, said Pataki spokeswoman Suzanne Morris.