Almost 20 years ago and nearly 3,000 miles away, marijuana was legalized for medical use in California.

Nineteen other states and the District of Columbia followed in California’s footsteps and legalized cannabis in some form, and now New York state seems poised to join them by making marijuana available for limited medical use.

Governor Andrew Cuomo, who had said last April that he didn’t fully support medical marijuana, said in his State of the State address Jan. 8 that New York state will establish a program allowing up to 20 hospitals to prescribe medical marijuana. Cuomo said the state government would monitor the system to see how feasible and effective it is.

“The governor’s approach seems to be a reasonable way to elicit the good from marijuana while seeking to avoid some of the concerns that might arise by following a mass distribution approach,” said Walter Broadnax, a professor of public administration and international affairs at Syracuse University.

Though medical marijuana is well on its way to being decriminalized, other details, such as which hospitals will be able to prescribe cannabis, haven’t been announced yet.

St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center in Syracuse hasn’t been contacted about the program and isn’t seeking to become a dispensary; Crouse Hospital doesn’t expect to be a dispensary; and Upstate University Hospital said the state hasn’t consulted the teaching hospital about the program, according to a Jan. 8 article by The Post Standard.

James Byrne, an SU professor of public health with a specialization in addictions and recovery, said in an email that he would like to see marijuana be subjected to the same process as other medically prescribed drugs.

“We don’t vote state-by-state to decide if Oxycontin is a medically appropriate painkiller,” Byrne said.

Byrne said he’d like to see marijuana go through a scientific process as opposed to a political process to determine if it serves a medical purpose.

He added that he does support treating marijuana similarly to several European countries that have decriminalized its use. He said studies have shown that within other cultures, decriminalizing the use of marijuana hasn’t led to increased cannabis use.

Brian Johnson, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Upstate Medical University, said in an email that he thinks marijuana should be legal but he isn’t fully supportive of the governor’s plan.

Johnson said the standard way to get a drug approved for medical use is through the FDA, which isn’t happening for marijuana.

“I hope it strikes you and others as odd that claims of medical efficacy are not put through this most standard channel, but rather a special status is being claimed for marijuana,” Johnson said.

Johnson added that he hadn’t heard anything about potential distribution sites.

He said when physicians or hospitals introduce addictive drugs it gives the impression that they are safe. He referred to cigarette advertisements that were used by doctors in the 1940s and 1950s.

SU professor of public health Dessa Bergen-Cico said she thinks there are increasing medical benefits to using cannabis and that doctors will never know if its effective if they aren’t able to prescribe it.

She said for certain conditions, like cancer patients who suffer side effects from chemotherapy, medical marijuana can be useful.

“Without the legal capacity to prescribe it, doctors can’t have first-hand experience and knowledge of finding out if it actually helps people, so it allows for doctor-patient interaction,” she said.

Bergen-Cico also said it is important to maintain a clear distinction between what is appropriate medical use versus recreational use. California was very liberal when prescribing cannabis, something she believes caused public confusion.

She added that she believes the governor’s plan appears to be a unique approach that will be more thoroughly regulated than past plans from other states.

Gabriel Sayegh, state director of the New York Drug Policy Alliance, said he believed the governor’s announcement was a good first step and that if medical marijuana were decriminalized, it could benefit those who suffer from chronic, debilitating illnesses.

But Sayegh believes that decriminalizing marijuana isn’t the only step — legislation like the Compassionate Care Act should also be passed.

The legislation would allow doctors to prescribe patients who have life-threatening or debilitating illnesses such as cancer or multiple sclerosis medical marijuana in order to relieve their symptoms.

The Compassionate Care Act would put regulations in place where doctors who prescribe medical marijuana and the patients who receive it would have to register with the department of health, Sayegh added. Production and distribution systems would be closely monitored by the state.

“Once the Compassionate Care Act passes, medical marijuana will be the most tightly controlled substance in New York,” Sayegh said. “The system is designed to be incredibly effective to ensure that cannabis related products are being delivered to the people who need them.”

Sayegh said if the legislation passes New York would have one of the most tightly regulated medical marijuana programs in the nation.

“Anybody with a family member who’s had cancer or who’s faced a serious illness knows they would want to do everything they could to alleviate their pain and suffering,” Sayegh said.

Published on January 15, 2014 at 2:29 am

Contact Brett: blsamuel@syr.edu | @Brett_Samuels27