By Tracey Porpara, November 11
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Gov. Andrew Cuomo will sign a bipartisan bill to add post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a qualifying condition for New York’s medical marijuana program, he announced on Saturday – Veterans Day.
This action will make New York is the 28th state to allow medical marijuana to be used to treat PTSD.
“We thank Gov. Cuomo for his support of this compassionate bill. No one should have to leave the state to have access to a treatment that might help them have a better quality of life,” said Landon Dais, political director for the Marijuana Policy Project of New York.
Assembly Health Committee chair Richard N. Gottfried, sponsor of the bill, said, “Governor Cuomo’s action reflects growing recognition of the value of medical marijuana, and is another welcome step in the expanding and strengthening of New York’s medical marijuana program.”
Twenty-eight of the 29 states with medical marijuana programs will now allow patients with PTSD to qualify. In the only state that does not, Alaska, marijuana is legal and regulated for adults 21 and older. Bills to add PTSD to state medical marijuana programs were signed into law in Colorado, New Hampshire, and Vermont this year.
Since its launch nearly two years ago, New York State’s Medical Marijuana Program has certified 35,621 patients, and has 1,316 practitioners registered, said Jill Montag, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health.
