Grisanti’s Letter To Governor Cuomo Requests Emergency Amendments To Medical Marijuana Law

New York State Senator Mark Grisanti (R, I-60) has sent a letter today along with two other state lawmakers urging Governor Cuomo to make amendments to the medical marijuana law as quickly as possible.

The letter opens by telling the story of Orchard Park Resident Anna Conte:

Nine-year old Anna Conte died on July 17, after several days in a coma brought on by a severe epileptic seizure.  Anna, who lived near Buffalo, had Dravet Syndrome – a rare and severe form of epilepsy that causes a child to have as many as a hundred seizures a day.

Senator Grisanti, a co-sponsor of the legislation was joined with Senator Diane Savino, who sponsored the legislation in the Senate, and Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, who sponsored the legislation in the Assembly on the letter.

Grisanti and his fellow lawmakers call for emergency amendments to the law:

New York should amend the medical marijuana law as quickly as possible, even if that means convening a special session of the Legislature.  The state’s leaders, and our U.S. senators and members of Congress, should lobby the federal government to make whatever policy changes are needed.

Some emergency actions (e.g., rapid approval of some in-state producers/dispensers and issuing of identification cards to selected patients) can and should in be taken quickly under the new law, and we urge the Health Department to move as quickly as possible, with focused approvals from the Commissioner and the Superintendent of State Police.

You can read the full letter by clicking here.