I WON'T LET NEW YORK GO TO POT: GOVERNOR HOPEFUL ANDREW CUOMO SAYS HE
IS AGAINST MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Democrat Andrew Cuomo is not a fan of medical marijuana.

Heading into the final week of his campaign for governor, Cuomo told
reporters on Sunday that he does not want to see New York follow
California's example and legalize pot for medical purposes.

"The dangers of medical marijuana outweigh the benefits," said Cuomo,
who has admitted using marijuana in his youth. "I don't think the bill
passes."

Told that pot's legalization could generate revenues for the state, he
said, "A lot of things could raise revenues. Legalizing prostitution
could raise revenues. I'm against that, too."

Cuomo's opponent, Republican Carl Paladino, recently said he wanted
the issue put to a referendum.

Cuomo spoke to reporters after he addressed worshipers at Kingdom
Baptist Church in Yonkers and warned that Paladino favors an
"extremist agenda" that, among other things, favors racial profiling
and sending families to "work camps" at retrofitted prisons.

"The more the opposition talks, the better we look," Cuomo told the
largely black congregation, receiving an "Amen" in response.

"Progress can be rolled back in one day - Election Day," Cuomo
added.

Paladino spokesman Michael Caputo rejected Cuomo's attack as "just
another Cuomo lie."

"Andrew Cuomo has no plan to help New York's jobless skilled and
unskilled workers and his sophomoric understanding of Carl's 'Dignity
Corps' shows he wouldn't know an unemployed New Yorker if they asked
him for a dollar on Park Avenue," Caputo said.

The "Dignity Corps" proposal, unveiled this year, would convert empty
and underutilized prisons into centers where those on welfare and
unemployment insurance could receive job training, state-sponsored
work, housing and lessons in "personal hygiene."

Paladino, meanwhile, returned to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on Sunday for
a closed-door meeting with Hasidic Jewish leaders. His previous
meeting with Jewish leaders ignited a firestorm when he was quoted
making anti-gay remarks. Paladino did not speak to reporters after the
meeting.

The Buffalo bomb-thrower also received a blow from his hometown
newspaper on Sunday, which endorsed Cuomo.

Paladino "doesn't have the temperamental balance to actually serve as
governor," The Buffalo News wrote in its endorsement of Cuomo, citing,
among other things, Paladino's anti-gay remarks.

"Anger, alone, won't cut it," the newspaper wrote.

Cuomo received a warm reception from churchgoers yesterday, despite
the fact that Baptist ministers have expressed opposition to his
support for gay marriage.

"I just came back from a meeting of our state social action
committee," the Rev. James Hassell told the Daily News before the
Sunday morning service.

"We are very concerned about his stance on same-sex marriage.
Biblically, we cannot condone same-sex marriage," Hassell said. "We
understand the political pressures on him - but we don't support it."