HOPE RIDING ON NY MARIJUANA BILL

For several years, Cedarhurst resident Sherri Greene has suffered
from fibromyalgia, an arthritis-related condition that causes
debilitating pain throughout her arms and legs.

When the pain is at its worst, Green, 65, can't even grip a
telephone. Tired of the ineffectiveness of painkillers, Greene
turned to a different kind of drug to ease her pain: marijuana.

"I took two puffs," Greene said, "and it worked wonders."

Greene, like others with similar medical conditions, is hoping that
a bill currently before the New York State Legislature will pass and
legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes.

The Assembly passed a medical marijuana bill Thursday and sent it to
the Senate. But Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Brunswick)
criticized the bill as too broad and said a colleague would soon
introduce a rival bill. Earlier this week, Gov. Eliot Spitzer
reversed himself and said he would support legalization. However,
only four working days are left before the legislature adjourns.

"If something could help someone in severe pain, why should they be
denied it?" said Greene, who also has T-cell lymphoma, a form of
blood cancer. "I don't think the government has the right to make
that choice."

Dr. Robert A. Duarte, director of the Pain and Headache Treatment
Center at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, said
Greene is not alone. Over the past year, Duarte said, drug
screenings have shown that "a significant minority" of the center's
chronic-pain patients use marijuana.

"They state that it's helping them with pain control," he said.

When patients test positive for marijuana, doctors inform them they
can no longer prescribe drugs for them that may interact with the
marijuana. They also provide counseling on drug addiction and dependency.

Duarte said that while marijuana is an illicit drug, it possesses
the mechanism to activate receptors in the brain that can alleviate
pain. Still, research has not yet produced "exciting numbers"
regarding its medicinal value, he said.

The American Cancer Society is looking for more concrete data before
considering supporting its medicinal uses, said Keith Harris, media
relations director for the society's New York metro region. "Better
and more effective treatments are needed to overcome the side
effects of cancer and its treatment," he said in a statement.

But, currently, "the American Cancer Society does not advocate the
use of inhaled marijuana or the legalization of marijuana."