AN ACT To Amend the Public Health Law and the General Business Law, in relation to medicinal cannabis and providing for the repeal of certain provisions upon the expiration thereof.
The people of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly do enact as follows:
Sec. 1. Legislative findings and intent. The legislature finds that millions of New Yorkers have medical conditions that can be improved by use of cannabis hemp and extracts thereof. The law should not stand between them and treatment necessary for life and health. This legislation follows the acknowledgement that the inalienable right to liberty includes that of the citizens to treat and cure their own illnesses and make personal health choices that do not infringe on the rights of others or endanger the health and safety of others. This policy and legislation do not in any way diminish New York State's strong public policy of sale of mind-altering substances to minor's, such as alcohol, and recognizes the need for such restrictions on the sale of cannabis flowers and extracted derivitives thereof. However, this policy does not advocate, promote, or legally or socially accept the policing of the substance use of adults by law enforcement officers without provable harm or danger to others. This legislation is an appropriate exercise of the state's legislative power to protect the health of its people under article 17 of the state constitution and the 10th amendment of the United States constitution. We hereby recognize that there are multiple medicinal and health benefits of tetrahydracannabinol (T.H.C.), the active medicinal component of cannabis hemp flowers, and that it has been proven to cause relatively unsubstantial harm to the user and poses no serious threat to public health and safety, comparable to many other openly sold over-the-counter medicines. We hereby declare that as article four of the United States constitution clearly establishes the rights of its citizens to be secure in their persons and protected from unreasonable search and seisures, the State of New York reserves the right to establish laws for the enforcement of such protections of its citizens in relationship to cannabis cultivation and use, the prohibition of which is hereby deamed unreasonable and uninforceable in its prejudicial and unjust administration.
It is the legislative intent that this act be implemented consistantly with these findings and principles, through a reasonable and workable system with appropriate oversight, evaluation and continuing research.
Sec. 2. Article 33 of the public health law is amended by adding a new title V-A to read as follows:
TITLE V-A
MEDICINAL USE OF CANNABIS HEMP FLOWERS
Section 3360. Definitions.
3361. Patients
3362. Posession
3363. Cultivation/manufacture
3364. Federal Authority
3365. Evaluation; research programs; report by department.
3366. Relation to other laws.
S. 3360. Definitions. As used in this title, the following terms shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
1. "Medicinal use" means the acquisition, possession, manufacture, use, delivery, transfer, transportation, or administration of medical cannabis by a patient or caregiver for use as part of the treatment of the patient's condition as defined by the patient and the caregiver for such illnesses as the patient shall deem worthy of treatment with cannabis or extracted derivitives thereof.
2. "Patient" means a person who is in need of medical treatment and chooses to use cannabis or its extracts to treat their illness, or a person who wishes to use medicinal cannabis as a preventative health supplement, as defined in section thirty-three hundred sixty-one of this title.
3. "Caregiver" means a person assisting in supplying or administering medicinal cannabis to a patient.
5. "Medical Condition" means a defective state of health, including a variety of temporary illnesses, such as joint, back or muscle pain, head-ache, stress related chemical imbalance in the brain, i.e., nausea, insomnia, diminished appetite, post traumatic stress, adult attention deficit disorder, depression, bi-polar disorder, uncontrolled anger, and any serious condition such as life threatening or debilitating diseases, i.e., glaucoma, cancer, diabetes, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, malaria, tuberculosis, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, or such illnesses as the patient shall deem appropriate for treatment with cannabis or its derivitives.
6. "Medicinal cannabis" means the flowers of the cannabis hemp plant and derivitives thereof, which have been proven to be effective in the treatment of a multitude of common and uncommon illnesses and human biological disabilities, when used as an herbal home remedy, or medically prescibed treatment.
7. "Usable Cannabis" means cannabis consisting of the harvested flowers of the plant of the genus cannabis, of a quality that produces significant percentage of the active medicinal component, tetrahydracannabinol (T.H.C.)
8. "Cultivation" means the planting, caretaking, harvesting and processing of medicinal cannabis including manufacuring extracts and derivitives.
S. 3361. Patients. A patient shall be identified as someone who has a condition that deprives them of peace of mind and believes that medicinal cannabis may be an effective treatment or cure for their illness. No certification will be required to prove the legitimacy of their claim of medicinal need, as it is each person's right to determine how to maintain their own health. A person seeking to purchase or receive medicinal cannabis shall have the same freedom as someone who uses aspirin or cold medicine, as there has been no scientific proof that cannabis poses a greater health risk than aspirin or cold medicine. A patient may also be defined as a person who chooses to use medicinal cannabis as a health supplement to prevent illnesses from occurring.
S. 3362. Possession. 1. The possession, aqcuisition, manufacture, use, delivery, transfer, transportation, or administration of medicinal cannabis by a patient or caregiver shall be lawful under this title; provided that the cannabis is not intended for the distribution or sale to minors (under the age of 18) except in cases where a physician deems it necessary to prescribe medicinal cannabis to a child due to the lack of a better or more appropriate treatment or cure.
2. Smoking of medicinal cannabis shall not be regulated in the same way that tobacco smoking is regulated in commercial establishments unless specified by the owner of such venue, as cannabis smoke has not been proven to cause the same or comparable health problems that tobacco smoke causes to persons exposed to "second-hand" smoke, partly because it has been proven that T.H.C. itself effectively prevents the formation and spread of lung cancer and causes the termination of cancer cells.
3. It shall be lawful under this article to give or dispose of cannabis to a patient or caregiver for medicinal use or to offer to do the same.
4. No school, employer or landlord shall refuse to enroll, employ or lease to or otherwise penalize a person solely for his or her status as patient or caregiver, provided, however, that nothing in this paragraph requires a school, employer or landlord make any additional accomodations.
S. 3363. Cultivation. 1. A patient, caregiver or otherwise interested party may freely culivate and manufacture medicinal marijuana within the bounderies of their own property, or, with permission of the landlord, within the boundaries of rented property. There is seen to be no general public health concern requiring state intervention as to who can and should be allowed to cultivate cannabis, and in such a cases as a township or county shall find that a cannabis garden on private property is infringing on the rights of other citizens outside of the said private location, it shall be in the jurisdiction of the local public to prove damages, and is therefore, upon enactment of this title, not a state government public health issue in New York State.
2. The government of the State of New York shall not support any criminal prosecutions of medicinal cannabis cultivators for the sole act of cultivating the cannabis plant or manufacturing the medicinal extracts thereof where there is no provable harm or damage to others, as possession and cultivation of this plant has not been proven to pose a serious public safety concern that might deem it necessary to prohibit its use, and due to the importance of its medicinal uses the state acknowledges the desire on the part of patients and caregivers to have free unencumbered use of the plant.
S. 3364. Federal Authority. The Assembly of the State of New York hereby reaffirms that the United States constitution does not delegate authority to the federal government in respect to writing legislation that imposes or seeks to impose laws conflicting with the rights reserved to the states and to the people in accordance with the tenth amendment of the U.S. constitution. The Assembly of the State of New York reserves the right to decide matters of protection of the health of its citizens, as the United States is not allowed by the constitution to decide matters of personal health provisions, thus leaving said responsibility to the people and the states respectively. In the case of personal use of cannabis for medicinal purposes as a treatment, cure, or preventative health supplement, we find that due to the lack of substantial health risk to the general public posed by the personal use of such substances, and negligible evidence of a threat to public safety posed by the cultivation and distribution of medicinal cannabis, there is no reasonable purpose for the State of New York to impose and/or enforce any kind of prohibition or strict regulation of the plant and its uses by responsible adults.
S. 3365. Evaluation; research programs; report department. 1 The commissioner may provide for the analysis and evaluation of the operation of this title, in a manner to ensure that a sufficient amount of medicinal cannabis is being produced in the state to provide for the needs of underprivileged, handicapped or seriously ill patients that are in state run healthcare programs to see to the effective treatment and cure of their illnesses to the extent that it is made possible by the administration of such medication. The commissioner may enter into agreements with one or more persons or non-profit corporations or other organizations, for the performance of and evaluation of the implementation of this title.
2. The department may develop, seek any necessary state approval for, and carry out research programs relating to medicinal use of cannabis. Participation in any such research programs shall be voluntary on the part of the practitioners, patients, and caregivers.
3. The department shall report every two years, beginning one year after the effective date of this title, to the governor and the legislature on the general efficiency and effectiveness of state operated medicinal use of cannabis flowers and extracts, as in programs like medicaid, social services etc. and make appropriate recommendations.
S. 3366. Relation to other laws. 1. The provisions of this article shall apply to this tittle, except that where a provision of this title conflicts with another provision of this article, this title shall apply.
2. Nothing in this title shall be construed to require or prohibit an insurer or health plan under the insurance law or the public health law to provide coverage for medicinal cannabis. Nothing in this title shall be construed to require coverage for medicinal cannabis under article twenty-five of this chapter or article five of the social services law.
3. A person or entity shall not be subject to criminal or civil liability or professional dicipline for acting reasonably and in good faith persuant to this title.
S. 3. Section 853 of the general business law is amended by adding a new subdivision three to read as follows:
3. This article shall not apply to any sale, furnishing or possession which is for a lawful purpose under title V-A of article thirty three of the public health law.
S. 4. This act shall take effect one month after it shall become a law; shall not be promulgated except as set forth in section 3364 of the public health law, as added by section two of this act; and provided that the provisions of title V-A of article 33 of the public health law, as added by section two of this act, and subdivision 3 of section 853 of the general business law, and as as added by section three of this act, shall expire and be deemed repealed on and after the thirty first of December of the frst year after this law shall have become law.
