NY Gov. Cuomo Exhibits Signs of Latent Reefer Madness [View all]
As states across the Western United States (and some in the tippy top of the Northeast) liberalize marijuana laws, states in the South and greater Northeast are still plagued by recurring bouts of reefer madness.
Is it just a coincidence that those states with smaller African American populations are the states that are most quickly responding to the overwhelming evidence that the war on drugs has been a failure, and has, in part, been a war on African Americans?
Arrest stats indicate marijuana laws are targeted toward the African American population across the nation, while usage stats indicate whites are as likely, and sometimes more so, to use marijuana than African Americans. Should Democrats across the Northeast and the South "check their privilege" to see if their support for laws that the American public, at large, overwhelmingly does not want is really an expression of racism in their communities?
A two-part story about Gov. Cuomo's anti-medical marijuana fight with the New York Senate.
Gov. Cuomo Monday morning doubled down on his aides' comments over the weekend on the concerns he has about the legislative push to legalize medical marijuana.
Appearing on public radio's "The Capitol Pressroom", Cuomo told host Susan Arbetter that he has heard major concerns from his health commissioner and superintendent of state police.
"If we can address those concerns, there will be a bill," Cuomo said. "But I'm not going to be part of a system that's just going to wreak havoc."
He also defended his desire to further restrict which diseases can be covered. He said the bill is expected to cover "serious diseases" and not include loopholes "that you can drive a truck through."
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/gov-cuomo-big-medical-marijuana-bill-blog-entry-1.1831030
And he would cut down on the 20 chronic illnesses the Legislature wants to be able to treat with marijuana. The governor wants any law to cover patients suffering from cancer, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, MS, HIV/AIDS, diabetics, and spinal cord injuries. It would have to be a neuropathic condition with "true nerve pain", a Cuomo aide said.
Cuomo also wants the Legislature to remove a provision from its bill allowing patients to receive up to 2.5 ounces of pot every 30 days. Instead, like with other drugs, he would allow doctors to prescribe pot in one-month doses that would be decided by the physicians. Cuomo would require doctors, and not physician assistants and nurse practitioners, to prescribe the pot. And he wants doctors to be pre-certified by the state Health Department to ensure they are specialists in the field they are treating with the marijuana, Cuomo officials said.
Cuomo wants to limit the registered organizations to five, with each one required to operate four dispensaries in different parts of the state to ensure there is easy access statewide, one Cuomo aide said.
It's so sad to see Democrats align with the drug warriors and their lies. Of course, Cuomo has genuine concerns - but they're born out of the same past that treated marijuana as something worse than heroin, when, in fact, it is less dangerous than alcohol.
But the northeast established itself long ago as a alcohol culture, when prohibition was creating a criminal class and demonstrating the utter hypocrisy of U.S. govt. policy concerning the right of Americans to control their own decisions about the things they choose to ingest. When I see this sort of thing, I think the Northeast is stuck in some mid-20th century Democrat past - while the base of the party has moved forward - and it's the west that will lead America to a better future.
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