ALBANY – State lawmakers on Tuesday moved to give sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder the ability to use medical marijuana to treat their condition.
The Democrat-controlled Assembly approved by a 101 to 6 vote a measure that adds PTSD to the list of state-approved ailments that medical marijuana can be prescribed to treat.
“There is a lot of evidence that medical marijuana is very effective in treating PTSD,” said Assemblyman Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan), the bill’s sponsor.
The legislation now heads to the GOP-controlled state Senate, where it appears to be gaining momentum.
“It’s a big issue for veterans,” said Sen. Diane Savino (D-Staten Island), sponsor of the Senate version of the bill.
Senate Health Committee Chairman Kemp Hannon (R-Nassau County) said the proposal is currently “under discussion” in his committee and did not rule out a floor vote before the end of the Legislature’s session in June.
Republican senators Martin Golden, of Brooklyn, and William Larkin, of Orange County, recently signed up as co-sponsors of the Senate bill.
Currently, medical marijuana can be used to treat only a handful of serious illnesses and conditions, including cancer, HIV and AIDS, Lou Gehrig’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases, epilepsy, some spinal cord injuries and multiple sclerosis. In December, the state added chronic pain to the list of conditions.
New York launched its medical pot program in January 2016 but it has struggled to attract both patients and medical practitioners willing to prescribe the drug.
As of April 25, only 976 practitioners and 17,559 patients had been certified to take part.
