A MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW GAINS MOMENTUM IN ALBANY

ALBANY -- Following in the footsteps of Connecticut's Legislature,
New York State lawmakers are expected to approve legislation allowing
the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

The Democrat-led Assembly could pass a medical marijuana bill as
early as this week, according to the bill's main sponsor. The
Republican-led Senate is expected to follow suit, lawmakers said.

It's not clear if Governor Spitzer would support the bill. As a
candidate last year, Mr. Spitzer said he was opposed to the
legalization of medical marijuana, but a spokeswoman for the governor
indicated yesterday that he has not ruled out signing such a bill.

"We know that the issue is being discussed by the Legislature and a
variety of proposals have been discussed," a spokeswoman for Mr.
Spitzer, Christine Anderson, said via e-mail. "If they pass a bill,
we'll obviously take a look at it."

Governor Rell of Connecticut, who is considering a medical marijuana
bill that lawmakers sent to her desk earlier this month, has also
given mixed signals about her position. She has said it's important
to help seriously ill people alleviate their pain, but has expressed
fear that legalizing the drug would undermine the message that
recreational use of marijuana is dangerous.

New York would be the 13th state to approve a medical marijuana
program and the fifth state to approve the use of the substance
through legislative action. Eight states have permitted medical
marijuana by voter referendum.

In 2005, New York lawmakers came close to approving a medical
marijuana law. They backed off after the Supreme Court ruled that the
federal government can prohibit doctors from prescribing the drug.
Since the ruling, states have increasingly reasserted their right to
permit use of the drug under certain conditions.

New York is moving closer to legalizing medical marijuana at a time
when the movement appears to be gaining momentum.

In the last two months, in addition to the legislative action in
Connecticut, New Mexico became the 12th state to legalize medical
marijuana; Vermont lawmakers voted to broaden their program, and
Rhode Island lawmakers passed a bill making the state's medical
marijuana law permanent, and are expected to override Governor Carcieri's veto.

"The issue has just started to reach critical mass," a spokesman for
the Marijuana Policy Project, Bruce Mirken, said. "There's a growing
awareness among politicians that's it's not a scary issue."

The bill introduced in the Assembly is similar to Rhode Island's law.
It would allow the possession of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and up
to 12 plants by a certified patient or designated caregiver.

Patients would be barred from purchasing marijuana and smoking it in
public places. A doctor could certify the use of marijuana for up to
one-year intervals to a patient suffering from a life-threatening
condition. The doctor could certify the drug only if he or she
believed that it would be more effective than other drugs.

Critics of medical marijuana say the dangers of using the drug
outweigh any medical benefits. Opponents also argue that there are
available legal medicines that could offer similar relief. There is a
fear among some critics that legalizing the drug would make it easily
available to people who are not authorized to use it and would make
the drug seem safe.

"I think it's wrong," the chairman of the Conservative Party of New
York, Michael Long, said. "I don't think there's any way to keep
track of what's going on. Who's to say that marijuana is not being
picked up by teenagers in the house?"

Supporters contend that marijuana can offer relief to people
suffering from cancer, glaucoma, AIDS, Crohn's disease, hepatitis-C,
and multiple sclerosis. The prohibition, they say, hasn't stopped
sick people from seeking the drug but has driven up the cost, meaning
they have to spend hundreds of dollars to obtain just one ounce.

They also argue that the drug is especially beneficial to sick people
who don't respond well to other medication and that smoking the plant
is more effective than taking the synthetic and legal pill version
made with THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

"It's humane, and it's good medicine," a Democratic assemblyman of
Manhattan who is the lead sponsor of the bill in the chamber, Richard
Gottfried, said. "There are thousands of New Yorkers who suffer from
serious medical conditions who could have a better quality and longer life."

A Senate Republican who in previous years has sponsored medical
marijuana bills in the chamber, Vincent Leibell, said he's optimistic
that the house would back a marijuana bill, although one with a
different wording from the Assembly version.

"I believe there's support there," he said.

Mr. Leibell said it's likely that he would put forward a bill when
the Assembly votes on its version. The Senate majority leader, Joseph
Bruno, who is a survivor of prostate cancer, has said he supports
legalizing marijuana.