New York Draft Medical Marijuana Regulations Too Restrictive

Last December, the New York Department of Health released more than a hundred pages of regulations related to the medical marijuana program. Over the past month, advocates for the Compassionate Care Act have voiced major concerns that the regulations are far too restrictive and would leave many patients suffering from debilitating medical conditions without safe, legal access to their medicine. The state is accepting public comments until February 13.

Our allies at Compassionate Care New York, who led the grassroots effort to pass the medical marijuana law, have submitted several pages of comments outlining their concerns. You can read them by clicking on "CCNY Concerns with Draft MMJ Regulations" here. Their major concerns include:

-- A lack of access or accommodation for low-income patients;
-- Too few dispensaries and a ban on delivery services;
-- A prohibition on whole-plant medicine and a ban on edibles, topicals, and other medical preparations; and
-- No clear process for adding more qualifying conditions, even with scientific and medical support.

Please take a look at CCNY’s full comments for an idea of the extensive issues that New York’s medical marijuana program still faces. Don’t forget to submit your own comments to the Department of Health!