cannabisnews.com: Pataki Divided Over Medical Marijuana Use





Pataki Divided Over Medical Marijuana Use
Posted by CN Staff on May 11, 2005 at 07:11:42 PT
By Jay Gallagher, Albany Bureau
Source: Democrat and Chronicle 
Albany, N.Y. -- Gov. George Pataki and lawmakers Tuesday appeared headed for a showdown on whether New York should allow seriously ill people to use marijuana as a pain reliever. The Legislature's top Republican said he was confident that a bill to allow its use under a doctor's supervision would pass this session. But a spokesman for Pataki's Health Department said patients can get similar relief from other medications.
"The Legislature needs to act to enact a medical marijuana law that allows the drug to be used in tightly controlled instances with a doctor's supervision," said Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, Rensselaer County. "I'm confident we can achieve this goal this session." The Assembly will likely go along if the Senate approves the measure, said Health Committee Chairman Richard Gottfried, D-Manhattan.The supporters of the measure brought TV talk show host Montel Williams to the Capitol Tuesday to lobby for the measure. Williams, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999, said marijuana is the only drug that relieves the chronic pain in his legs and feet. "Other painkillers haven't worked," he said. "If it weren't for medical marijuana, I would not be standing here today." He said he ingested some in a cake in California Monday night before flying to New York. The supporters also included representatives from the state Medical Society, the state Nurses' Association and the deans of the state's 15 medical schools. "The use of marijuana for medical purposes is scientifically established," Jo Weiderhorn, executive director of the Associated Medical Schools of New York State, said in a statement. "The deans of New York's medical schools recognize this and support efforts in the Legislature to make marijuana available to patients under the supervision of a doctor." The state Health Department, however, disagrees, according to a spokesman."Our experts ... indicate there are legal medications available that provide the same medical benefit as marijuana," said the spokesman, William VanSlyke. But a bill supporter said that the weight of medical opinion is mostly on the other side."I would suggest that the Health Department listen more closely to those many people in our state who are suffering, many of whom have communicated to myself and other lawmakers that this is the only place they can get relief from their pain," said Sen. Vincent Leibell, R-Patterson, Putnam County, sponsor of the bill. Leibell and other lawmakers wouldn't speculate Tuesday on whether they could rally the two-thirds vote necessary to override a potential Pataki veto, assuming such a bill is adopted by the Legislature. When asked to explain the opposition to the measure, Leibell said that marijuana is a "political hobgoblin" that some politicians can't see beyond. But he said they have to take a broader view because legalizing its use could dramatically reduce the suffering of many people. Complete Title: Lawmakers, Pataki Divided Over Medical Marijuana UseSource: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (NY)Author: Jay Gallagher, Albany BureauPublished: May 11, 2005Copyright: 2005 Rochester Democrat and Chronicle Contact: dceditpage democratandchronicle.comWebsite: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Montel Williams Pushes for Medicinal Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20659.shtmlMontel Williams Opens Up about Med Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20658.shtmlGOP 'Joint' Resolutionhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20642.shtml
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Comment #22 posted by afterburner on May 13, 2005 at 20:28:12 PT
Can't Win in their Eyes
{Chairman Michael Long calls to proponents of the plan “social engineers”, and says their agenda is not to make marijuana available for medical necessity, but to make the drug more socially acceptable.}When the *Stars* support us, we're just puppets. When the *Stars* don't support us, we're just rum-dumbs. The Conservative Party, the Federal hegemony, the Bush administration, the chiefs-of-police, the dogma groups, the government-sponsored and/or pharmaceutical-sponsored medical scientists, the (alcohol) beverage industry, and all the assorted neo-cons and prohibitionists repeat this trite propaganda ad nauseam in the manner of Goebbels' Big Lie technique or the protagonists in George Orwell's 1984.
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Comment #21 posted by FoM on May 13, 2005 at 13:36:06 PT
Article from NewsWatch
Conservative Party Urges No Vote on Medical MarijuanaMay 13, 2005 The New York State Conservative Party has issued a memo to legislators calling on them to refute what it calls “star power” legislative efforts to pass a medical marijuana law in New York. Chairman Michael Long calls to proponents of the plan “social engineers”, and says their agenda is not to make marijuana available for medical necessity, but to make the drug more socially acceptable. A copy of the letter sent to legislators follows. The social engineers are at it again. They will bring you stories of how people suffering from life-threatening diseases will be able to cope with them if they are allowed to use medical cannabis/marihuana. Talk show host and Emmy Award winner, Montel Williams, explains that he has to fly to California, in order to purchase his marihuana to help him ease the pain he suffers from multiple sclerosis. Mr. Williams and all his star power wants you to pass into law this bill that allows for registered organizations to lawfully sell, administer, deliver, dispense or distribute medical cannabis. Representatives of the Medical Society of the State of NY, Associated Medical Schools of NY, Nurses Association and the Statewide Senior Action Council all stood with Mr. Williams in support of allowing a controlled substance to be readily available in New York State. They failed to tell you that marihuana is available under the Antonio G. Olivieri controlled substances therapeutic research program. New York State, under this proposed bill, will be just like California where a perfectly healthy person can walk into a clinic, be seen by a doctor, pay a fee and leave fifteen minutes later with a form to purchase a two week supply of medical marihuana. Do not be fooled by the social engineers as they seek to make marihuana accepted as a legitimate medicine. The above referenced research program is available and pharmaceutical companies are working with the FDA on products like Sativex to help those who are truly suffering. This bill and others of a similar nature should not even be considered for a vote. The Members of the New York State Legislature must close the door on this issue once and for all. Medical marihuana is an oxymoron created by those who are determined to change public opinion on marihuana. And Legislators should tell the social engineers just that! http://www.newswatch50.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=142FAE15-6DA9-4AFE-BD65-A9D39093812A
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Comment #20 posted by Patrick on May 12, 2005 at 22:04:53 PT
John Tyler
Bang bang the nail on the head with the faulty logic of the anti's! Nice.
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Comment #19 posted by John Tyler on May 12, 2005 at 20:26:38 PT
faulty logic 
“"Our experts ... indicate there are legal medications available that provide the same medical benefit as marijuana," said the spokesman, William VanSlyke.” The prohibitionists like to use this argument, but it is totally bogus. For starters medical consumers and doctors should have a choice in what the patients should have access to and second the pharmaceutical companies all have multiple overlapping, competing products on the market for just about every ailment. For example, there are three erectile dysfunction medications on the market that all do the same thing. In the popular mind these are “recreational drugs” if there ever was one. If the above logic is to be followed then there should have only one allowed on the market, right? Also, what about aspirin and aspirin substitutes, why so many if one is already available? The prohibitionists' logic is false
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Comment #18 posted by Jose Melendez on May 11, 2005 at 17:52:09 PT
poison is legal, just not pot
"incidence of seizures may exceed that of other marketed antidepressants by as much as fourfold."http://www.prozactruth.com/bupropion.htmblah blah blah side effect blah blah blah blah profitsblah blah blah doctor golf trips blah blah FDA paid off blah blah what Justice department? blah blah DEA corrupt blah message to kids blah blah just blah say blah blah know.
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Comment #17 posted by mayan on May 11, 2005 at 17:05:29 PT
Got Choice?
"Our experts ... indicate there are legal medications available that provide the same medical benefit as marijuana," said the spokesman, William VanSlyke.So they admit that cannabis provides medical benefits? Then why can't we have a choice of which medications we want? Oh yeah, the greedy pharmaceutical companies would see their astronomical profits slip. SHADOW OF THE SWASTIKA: The Real Reason the Government Won't Debate Medical Cannabis and Industrial Hemp Re-legalization:
http://www.sumeria.net/politics/shadv3.html
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Comment #16 posted by BGreen on May 11, 2005 at 16:16:30 PT
Wellbutrin did nothing for me
I took it for a short time back in the early 1990's but it did nothing to enhance me or cannabis.To be truthful, my anxiety went away after I finished College so I don't think anything could have helped besides cannabis.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #15 posted by AgaetisByrjun on May 11, 2005 at 16:10:19 PT
Clarification
I don't just mean in a good way, because I've read from some people that it's uncomfortably intense. I'm just wondering if it'd be safe, considering that I'm fairly experienced with the herb and it's never felt like "too much".
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Comment #14 posted by AgaetisByrjun on May 11, 2005 at 16:09:12 PT
Off-topic
Has anyone here been on Wellbutrin/Zyban/Bupropion HCl? I've heard that it makes a cannabis high more intense, but if anyone has ever used them in combination, I'd like to know just how different it is from pot alone.I just went on it today, so I'm wondering about possible interactions.
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on May 11, 2005 at 13:59:33 PT
Dankhank
Please let us know if you get thru.I think Meth would do the same thing.
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Comment #12 posted by Dankhank on May 11, 2005 at 13:00:47 PT
aneurysms
I saw the story someplace else and wondered if it was only Cocaine users or could Meth cause similar things as they have some similarities of effects.OT .. on topic ... :-]I'm waiting for a call from Mr William VanSlyke, apparently misspelled, the site says William Van Slyke, 518-474-7354,http://w2.health.state.ny.us/query.html?col=nysdoh&qt=William+Van+Slyke&charset=iso-8859-1see first hit
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on May 11, 2005 at 11:28:37 PT
Off Topic
I saw this article in a news group I receive and thought it should be mentioned. I tried coke one time and didn't like it. I'm glad I didn't.***Cocaine Users Face Greater Risk of AneurysmBy Lawrence K. AltmanPublished: May 10, 2005Cocaine users face a newly discovered and possibly fatal risk: coronary aneurysms, a ballooning of the walls of coronary arteries. The condition increases the chance of suffering a heart attack, even years after users stop the drug, researchers in Minnesota are reporting. 
American Heart Association
In an angiogram, the white arrows point to ballooning in the right coronary artery of a 49-year-old man who had used cocaine.
The risk of developing an aneurysm was four times as high among cocaine users in their mid-40's as among nonusers in the same age group, according to the study, reported yesterday in the journal Circulation, which is published by the American Heart Association.Aneurysms occurred in 30.4 percent of cocaine users in the study compared with 7.6 percent of non-users.Precisely how much cocaine is needed to produce the aneurysms is not known, but the frequency of use was clearly linked to development of aneurysms, said Dr. Timothy D. Henry, a co-author of the study."The risk was definitely more common in people who used cocaine at least once a week," said Dr. Henry, who directs research at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation at Abbott Northwestern Hospital.The aneurysms can be prevented by avoiding cocaine, but no specific treatment is available once they develop, Dr. Henry said, adding that he hoped his team's findings would serve as a warning.In 2003, 34.9 million Americans ages 12 and older reported having used cocaine at least once during their lifetimes and about 2.3 million reported having used the drug in the previous month, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.Cocaine is known to increase the risk of heart attacks within hours of its use. But because coronary aneurysms are uncommon and generally take years to form, a link to cocaine had not been suspected.Dr. Henry cited the case of a prominent businessman who asked for a second opinion about coronary angiograms, X-rays taken when the man suffered a heart attack at 38. The angiograms showed multiple aneurysms of the coronary arteries that nourish the heart.The man did not have atherosclerosis, which accounts for about half of coronary aneurysms, or any of the rarer conditions associated with aneurysms, like syphilis, trauma and lupus and other connective tissue disorders. So Dr. Henry asked if the man had ever used cocaine. "How did you know I did?" the man responded.The man said he had used cocaine for two years when he was in his 20's, but not since.Dr. Henry said he began wondering about the link five years ago when he saw aneurysms in angiograms of three heavy cocaine users. So he started a systematic search to determine how often the aneurysms occurred among the users.The researchers examined the records of 191 men and women whose average age was in the early 40's. The patients included 112 cocaine users who had angiography for known or suspected heart problems during a 10-year period and 79 nonusers of similar age who also had the procedure. An angiogram involves inserting a tube in an artery in the upper leg or arm, threading it into the heart, and injecting a chemical dye to outline the arteries on X-rays.Three cardiologists examined the angiogram of each patient in the study to determine the presence or absence of coronary artery aneurysms. If all three doctors agreed that a coronary aneurysm was present, they classified it as definite. If two doctors concurred, they considered the aneurysm probable. In the cocaine user group, 24 patients had definite coronary artery aneurysms and 10 had probable ones.Using information that the patients had previously told their doctors, the researchers calculated the frequency of cocaine use in 61 of the drug users and found that 66 percent reported using the drug at least once a week.Aneurysms can occur in any artery. They are particularly frequent in the brain and in the aorta, the main artery that carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body, often ripping open to cause strokes and sudden death.Aneurysms in the coronary arteries rarely burst and pose a less direct risk of death than do brain aneurysms or aortic aneurysms. But the study showed that coronary artery aneurysms might kill by setting up cocaine users for a heart attack.Dr. Henry's team theorized that cocaine might weaken the artery wall and lead to an aneurysm by causing sharp spikes in blood pressure and damaging cells in the inner walls of the heart's arteries. Once an aneurysm forms, blood may flow through it in a way that makes it easier for blood clots to form. Those, in turn, can then stop the flow of blood and cause a heart attack.Dr. Henry said he hoped to collaborate with other cardiologists to further confirm the findings by conducting similar studies and using non-invasive techniques like echocardiography and rapid CT scans to determine when and how often the aneurysms form.Meanwhile, a number of other doctors who have learned of the Minnesota team's findings have told Dr. Henry that they have found coronary aneurysms among cocaine users.Copyright: 2005 The New York Timeshttp://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/10/health/10coca.html
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on May 11, 2005 at 11:17:48 PT
potpal
Thank you for the link. I know the article is correct.
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Comment #9 posted by potpal on May 11, 2005 at 11:06:01 PT
Give pot a chance...
 
Common drugs raise heart threat http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4535697.stm 
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Comment #8 posted by potpal on May 11, 2005 at 11:04:14 PT
Experts
Who are they? Walters had to drag over an 'expert' from Scotland to back up his propaganda recently. Why Scotland? Don't we have any experts here in the usa?
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on May 11, 2005 at 10:50:44 PT
BGreen
Drugs versus Herbs. I spent years of my life leaning on prescription drugs. Some for pain and some for sleep. I never felt rested after taking something for sleep so it was easy to take another one. Herbs process slowly in our system because they were made for us by a power that is higher then a pharmaceutical company. I have seen more problems with drugs and I question if I lost my mom because of a wrong drug being given to her. She didn't need to die from kidney failure because she was given intravenous Lasix when they found out two days later she had pneumonia. She had Alzeimers and couldn't tell us what was wrong. I don't like drugs because I've seen so many mistakes in my life.We have too many boomers and I can't help but feel strangely about why so many drugs.
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Comment #6 posted by BGreen on May 11, 2005 at 10:43:04 PT
Why do they keep approving new sleeping pills?!
Ambien and that new "butterfly" tranquilizer they're advertising are all NEW freakin' sleeping pills, but my "experts" tell me that we've had sleeping pills for longer than my 42 years on the planet, so WHY DO THEY KEEP INVENTING NEW SLEEPING PILLS AND WHY DO THEY KEEP GETTING FDA APPROVAL WHEN WE ALREADY HAVE TONS OF BARBITUARATES, CHLORAL HYDRATE, BENZODIAZAPENES, PLACIDYL, ETC.?Could it be that NO DRUG works for everybody, and SOME DRUGS are actually contraindicated in some patients who as a result need an alternative?Is it possible that the idea that "Our experts ... indicate there are legal medications available that provide the same medical benefit as marijuana," is a lie?The liars in power say cannabis has NO MEDICAL BENEFIT so this statement that "there are legal medications available that provide the same medical benefit as marijuana" must mean that either the FDA has approved chemicals that have NO MEDICAL BENEFIT AND BELONG IN SCHEDULE I or that THEY'VE LIED ALL ALONG ABOUT MEDICAL CANNABIS!Actually, we know that BOTH statements are factual and that the government has forfeited its right to control medicine as well as the right to choose our course of medical treatment in the United States of America.The Reverend Bud GreenP.S. Sorry about the yelling but I'm really fed up.
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Comment #5 posted by DeVoHawk on May 11, 2005 at 10:28:48 PT
Where is this list of the benefits of marijuana?
"Our experts ... indicate there are legal medications available that provide the same medical benefit as marijuana," said the spokesman, William VanSlyke."If these people were real journalist perhaps they might ask: "Could your experts list these benefits"?
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Comment #4 posted by jfrolang on May 11, 2005 at 10:10:44 PT
they're blatantly attacking free will
"Our experts ... indicate there are legal medications available that provide the same medical benefit as marijuana," said the spokesman, William VanSlyke.Does that mean they've given up trying to say that there is no medical benefit? It should be obvious to anyone that they're only interested in the pharmaceutical profits. You see it again when they try to oppose citizens buying the same legal prescriptions from Canada for less, profits are the only motive. The worst part is that they seem willing to attack personal choice and free will to guarantee their cashflow.
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on May 11, 2005 at 09:12:00 PT
potpal
You said: Guess we ought to return to the 'flower power' stance of the 70s and reclaim our liberty.I agree with you.
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Comment #2 posted by potpal on May 11, 2005 at 09:07:46 PT
A George is a George is a George
Time to send Pataki packing.This was in a paper re: Bush's recent trip:
During his speech Mr Bush praised President Mikhail Saakashvili and told the tens of thousands of people gathered that Georgia's 2003 Rose Revolution had been an inspiration to people everywhere. "You gathered here armed with nothing but roses and the power of your convictions and you claimed your liberty," the US president said. Guess we ought to return to the 'flower power' stance of the 70s and reclaim our liberty.
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on May 11, 2005 at 07:28:31 PT
Related Article from Snipped Source
 Medical Marijuana Bill Moving Toward a Deal Proposal emerging in Senate, Assembly, but it faces roadblock in Pataki. 
 
By Elizabeth Benjamin, Capitol Bureau Wednesday, May 11, 2005 
ALBANY -- For the second year running, Senate Republicans are dangling the possibility of a legislative deal on legalizing medical marijuana, but Gov. George Pataki appears unlikely to let the measure become law.
Sen. Vincent Leibell, R-Brewster, and Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, D-Manhattan, announced in a news conference Tuesday they are working on a bill to allow seriously ill people to use marijuana under a licensed physician's supervision. 
Snipped: Complete Article: http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=359366&category=CAPITOL&BCCode=HOME&newsdate=5/11/2005
Bruno OKs Pot-Rx Bill
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