APPROVAL PREDICTED FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA

ALBANY -- Long-stalled efforts to permit the medicinal use of
marijuana in this state appear to have a good chance of passage before
lawmakers end their session in June. It would make New York the 15th
state to legalize the drug for medical reasons.

Advocates say they believe the Democratic-controlled Senate and
Assembly have the votes to pass legislation permitting qualified
patients to grow their own marijuana plants, or obtain the drug on the
streets or through a state-sanctioned dispensary.Gov. David A.
Paterson also is said to be supportive of the legalization.

"It's looking pretty darn good," Assemblyman Richard N. Gottfried, a
Manhattan Democrat and Health Committee chairman, said of the bill's
chance to become law this session.

The lawmaker, who has sponsored the measure for years, renewed a
public push Tuesday, using the cases of two New Yorkers who have
turned to marijuana to relieve their chronic pain as evidence of the
need for the bill.

"I'm looking for all the help we can get to get this passed," said
Joel Peacock, a Buffalo resident and self-described conservative, who
turned to the drug in the past to help with severe pain he still feels
from a 2001 car accident.

The effort was jump-started by the Obama administration's decision in
February to stop raids on marijuana-dispensing centers in California,
where medical marijuana is legal. U. S. Attorney General Eric H.
Holder Jr. signaled that federal prosecution would cease in states
that legalize medical marijuana, even though U. S. law bans the drug's
use.

The Assembly is considered certain to pass the measure. Advocates are
working on the Senate , where control switched in January to Democrats
from Republicans.

In 2007, the measure had the backing of a half-dozen Republicans.
Supporters say they fear as many as four Democrats, including Sen.
William T. Stachowski, D-Lake View, might oppose it. That would
require GOP help to get it passed in a chamber where Democrats hold a
thin, 32-30 majority. Stachowski could not be reached to comment Tuesday.

Paterson's office said the governor is not taking a stance on the
bill, but sources described him as very supportive and said he even
offered to introduce his own legislation legalizing medical marijuana.

Proponents say marijuana helps to relieve pain from such diseases as
multiple sclerosis and to calm nausea, as well as to aid the appetite
of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. The measure has the
backing of groups representing physicians, nurses and hospices.

The association representing the state's district attorneys has not
taken a formal position on the bill, said Daniel Donovan, the Staten
Island district attorney and president of the group.

Speaking for himself and not his organization, Donovan, said a number
of other drugs -- from methadone to oxycondone -- have been legalized
to help with such things as relieving pain. "I'm not opposed to the
idea. I'm open to the idea of seeing studies -- and will trust the
medical field," he said.

The most vocal opposition comes from the state's small but influential
Conservative Party, which helped to kill the 2007 bill in the
Republican-led Senate.

"If this passes, this is the beginning of a slippery slope that opens
the door to legalize drugs," said Michael R. Long, the party's chairman.

Long said patients have plenty of alternatives to marijuana for pain
relief. He claimed a lack of controls to prevent marijuana prescribed
for a patient from getting into the hands of the patient's children or
from being sold on the streets.

"This is not helpful to our society," Long said.

But Peacock, the subject of a 2007 profile in The Buffalo News, said
his pain medications cost him and his insurer $39,000 a year. Pulling
a package of painkillers from his pocket Tuesday -- which cost $26 a
dose -- Peacock said marijuana would be both cheaper and more effective.

Peacock, who is enrolled in the Conservative Party, used marijuana
during a construction job in Louisiana several years ago and then in
Florida. He does not use it now because it is illegal in this state.
"It took the pain away. I was absolutely amazed," he said Tuesday at a
news conference in Albany.

Joe Gamble, a Liverpool resident, a former Army paratrooper and
commercial pilot, turns to marijuana now to relieve his pain from
multiple sclerosis. He called for "a little compassion."

"It's not for everybody, but it certainly does work for me," he
said.

Backers say this is the first time the Assembly and Senate have had
the same versions of medical marijuana bills. They note its Senate
sponsor -- Sen. Thomas K. Duane, a Manhattan Democrat -- is chairman
of the Health Committee, which has oversight of the matter.

Duane predicted the bill will pass with Democratic and Republican
backing, saying: "This is about compassion. This is about medicine.
This is not about politics."

The bill would make marijuana legal for those sanctioned by a
physician with a "serious condition," defined as a "severe
debilitating or life-threatening condition or a condition associated
with or a complication of such a condition or its treatment, including
but not limited to inability to tolerate food, nausea, vomiting,
dysphoria or pain."

It permits the possession of up to 12 marijuana plants or 2z ounces of
marijuana. Those approved for the program can grow the plants from
seeds purchased in the illicit drug market or through state-approved
dispensing centers. The centers also could dispense marijuana.

The bill calls for the state Health Department to play a role in
regulating entities that produce and sell marijuana to eligible
patients. Patients that violate the terms of the bill would be subject
to stricter penalties than someone now caught possessing marijuana.

Those eligible to legally smoke the drug for medical reasons would be
given a card good for a year before requiring new approval by a
physician or an approved caregiver. Doctors could not prescribe
marijuana for themselves.

Patients deciding to grow their own marijuana must keep it in a
locked, enclosed area, such as a greenhouse or closet accessible only
to the patient or caregiver. Patients could not smoke the drug in a
public place, and no caregiver could be responsible for more than five
patients approved for medical marijuana.

The bill allows the state to charge dispensers a fee, and the entities
could be anything from a pharmacy to a hospital clinic to a registered
marijuana producer. It does not require insurers to cover the treatments.

Critics have said wording that lets eligible patients get the drug on
the streets will only encourage the illegal drug trade.

A growing number of states, including Minnesota, Illinois and New
Jersey, are considering medical marijuana laws, especially after the
Obama administration's policy change on the issue. In November, voters
approved the drug's use in Michigan and Massachusetts.