In 2006, I was fortunate enough to see my grandmother before she passed away. We spent our final time together in a hospice facility. She was suffering, and wasn't interested in eating. She rapidly lost her energy and died. It was painful for her and for the people who cared about her to watch her suffer.
Things might have been different if she had access to medical marijuana; her final days may have lasted longer had she been able to eat. Medical marijuana has been proven to stimulate the appetite in patients suffering from loss of appetite due to a host of illnesses.
New York has the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of states like Connecticut and Massachusetts. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed decriminalization of public possession of small amounts of marijuana. He has framed it as a humanitarian goal, helping to prevent youth from accruing low-level drug charges and criminal records that haunt them into adulthood. The governor should show the same compassion for people who are suffering and haunted by pain. It can be done safely and intelligently — and it's the right thing to do.
David Levin
Albany
Lobbyist for the Capital Region chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws