Officially, neither of the Capital Region’s two congressmen is saying how he’ll vote when the final health care reform bill finally comes to the House floor, probably later this week.
In response to thecircusb0y: The registry would not be publicly available. It would be confidential.
The purpose is to have some way for police to verify that a person is truly a qualified patient that does not entail (often futilely) trying to reach the doctor off-hours, while the patient waits in police custody. This way the patient can quickly be on his/her way after the officer quickly verifies the card with the department of health (who would be the only ones who could access the information). It also prevents against fraud, since a recommendation alone would be hard to verify (especially off-hours). Also, were there a very rare case of a patient or caregiver violating the law, the card could be revoked, maintaining the integrity of the system.
This law would treat marijuana similarly to prescription medication, within the framework of what is allowed under federal law, not like alcohol and tobacco. It is a narrow, *medical* marijuana bill. Patients who get prescriptions do have to present a doctor's prescription to the pharmacist. Because the law cannot be set up exactly like prescriptions, due to federal law, police need some way to verify that patients are allowed to have the medical marijuana. A confidential ID card allows patients to do just that.
Also, this bill does not require people to register. Patients would only register if they choose to: if they would like to be excepted from New York's marijuana laws (within set parameters) to use medical marijuana. Why deny patients the option to choose to register to be protected from arrest?
Registry ID systems are in place in ten of the 12 medical marijuana states.
It is cruel and senseless to criminalize the seriously ill and injured for treating their debilitating or life-threatening medical conditions according to their doctors’ recommendations. Seventy-six percent of New Yorkers support allowing medical marijuana, as does the vast majority of the state's medical community -- including the state's medical schools, nurses association, and medical society.
To ask your state senator to enact the Assembly’s tightly crafted medical marijuana bill, visit NYpatients.org . To watch Burton's ad, visit mpp.org/NYad .
Posted on June 16 at 12:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
In response to thecircusb0y: The registry would not be publicly available. It would be confidential.
The purpose is to have some way for police to verify that a person is truly a qualified patient that does not entail (often futilely) trying to reach the doctor off-hours, while the patient waits in police custody. This way the patient can quickly be on his/her way after the officer quickly verifies the card with the department of health (who would be the only ones who could access the information). It also prevents against fraud, since a recommendation alone would be hard to verify (especially off-hours). Also, were there a very rare case of a patient or caregiver violating the law, the card could be revoked, maintaining the integrity of the system.
This law would treat marijuana similarly to prescription medication, within the framework of what is allowed under federal law, not like alcohol and tobacco. It is a narrow, *medical* marijuana bill. Patients who get prescriptions do have to present a doctor's prescription to the pharmacist. Because the law cannot be set up exactly like prescriptions, due to federal law, police need some way to verify that patients are allowed to have the medical marijuana. A confidential ID card allows patients to do just that.
Also, this bill does not require people to register. Patients would only register if they choose to: if they would like to be excepted from New York's marijuana laws (within set parameters) to use medical marijuana. Why deny patients the option to choose to register to be protected from arrest?
Registry ID systems are in place in ten of the 12 medical marijuana states.
On Bill could bring relief