At the New York Academy of Medicine on Monday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the medical marijuana bill which allows legal access to non-smokeable medical marijuana for chronically ill or injured patients.  New York joins twenty-two other states with legal medical marijuana laws.

Governor Cuomo said in a statement, '...the legislation I feel confident it gets us the best that medical marijuana has to offer in the most protected, controlled way possible. We studied the other states moving forward and we think this is the smartest approach that any state has taken thus far, and for that I credit the open-mindedness and intelligence of the legislature." 

The law will take 18 months to implement and will sunset in seven years.  Under the law, marijuana is can be prescribed to patients with serious health conditions but patients have to be registered and certified with a physician.  

Governor Cuomo told reporters, 'This is medical marijuana, so no smoking, only through prescription, highly regulated, only for a very descriptive set of conditions.'

The marijuana must be ingested or administered through a vaporizer or take in an oil base and is restricted to cover ten diseases: ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), cancer, epilepsy, HIV/AIDS, Huntington's Disease, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, neuropathies, Parkinson's Disease, spinal cord injuries.  However additional diseases can be added by the State Department of Health.

The bill had bi-partisan support but was sponsored by two Democrats, New York State Senator Diane J Savino representing northern Staten Island and Assembly member Richard N. Gottfried representing Chelsea in Manhattan.  The bill took twenty years of revision and fighting to final pass during the close of New York State legislative session.

One of those groups instrumental in helping briing about passage of the bill over the years was the Drug Policy Alliance - a leading national organization pursuing drug policy grounded in science, compassion, health and humanity.

Julie Netherland, Deputy State Director for the Drug Policy Alliance told Latin Post, 'It's definitely a historic day for New York, and we are delighted that New York has a medical marijuana program on the books.  It is a real tribute to the patience of providers and caregivers who fought so long for this bill and we are optimistic that they will implement it quickly and well to provide relief to thousands suffering from serious illnesses."

Latin Post asked why it was that New York which usually led other states in policy advances and innovative law lagged behind other states in enacting a medical marijuana program, superseded by California and Colorado.

Netherland added, 'Certainly lawmakers were cautious, there was lots of misinformation and fear and stigma, and there was a concerted effort to education our lawmakers on how marijuana works, how the program would operate, and certainly safeguards and regulations.'

The law allows for the manufacturing or distribution of medical marijuana to be limited to five organizations who will have to be registered with the Department of Health. Those organizations selected can operate up to four dispensaries each but are limited to dispensing a thirty day supply of medical marijuana. 

Distributors will be taxed at seven percent with proceeds from the excise tax distributed to New York State, State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services for drug prevention programs, and to the Division of Criminal Justice Services for law enforcement.