Online: | |
Visits: | |
Stories: |
Story Views | |
Now: | |
Last Hour: | |
Last 24 Hours: | |
Total: |
According to Empire State officials, New York plans to have its medical marijuana program fully functional within a year’s time. While the status of the medical marijuana program is only in the preliminary stage of a pilot program, otherwise known as an experimental trial to better understand how a large-scale program might work, the goal is to have this program up and operational in an expedited manner by way of utilizing federal sources for product.
As part of a legislative budget hearing that took place on Monday, the New York State Commissioner of Health – Nirav R. Shah – testified before state legislators on Governor Andre Cuomo’s plan to utilize an arcane marijuana law initially implemented in 1980. The law would in turn allow a limited number of hospitals (around twenty to be exact) to recommend medical marijuana to patients who are suffering from a chronic or debilitating condition. Shah said that his goal was to have New York’s medical marijuana program up and running as soon as possible. As Commission of Health, Shah heads one of the nation’s leading public health agencies that feature a budget of more than $50 billion. He also administers the state’s public health insurance programs, which cover 5 million New Yorkers.