NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A11011B
SPONSOR: Rules (Gottfried) TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the public health law, in relation to
allowing for the use of medical marihuana as an alternative to opioids
for pain management and substance use disorder
PURPOSE:
To allow physicians to certify patients for medical marijuana as an
alternative to prescribing opioids
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1. Amends section 3360 of the public health law, which lists
conditions eligible for medical marijuana. Adds substance use disorder
and pain that degrades health and functional capability where the use of
medical marijuana is an alternative to opioid use.
Section 2. Effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
With the ongoing opioid abuse crisis, it is important that physicians be
able to offer alternatives to opioids for pain management. Medical mari-
juana is a safer alternative and many certified patients currently use
it to treat pain under existing law and regulations. State regulations
(1004.2) currently allow certification of patients for medical marijuana
if they have pain that degrades health and functional capability along
with certain additional requirements. This bill adds eligibility for
patients with such pain whose use of medical marijuana is as an alterna-
tive to opioids. It will also add substance use disorder to the list of
conditions for which a doctor may authorize medical marijuana use. This
will allow for our state to offer proven harm reduction and treatment to
those struggling with substance use disorder.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
11011--B
R. R. 201
IN ASSEMBLY
May 30, 2018
___________
Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Gottfried,
Lupardo, L. Rosenthal) -- read once and referred to the Committee on
Health -- reported and referred to the Committee on Codes -- reported
and referred to the Committee on Rules -- Rules Committee discharged,
bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to the
Committee on Rules -- again amended on special order of third reading,
ordered reprinted, retaining its place on the special order of third
reading
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to allowing for the
use of medical marihuana as an alternative to opioids for pain manage-
ment and substance use disorder
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 7 of section 3360 of the
2 public health law, as amended by chapter 403 of the laws of 2017, is
3 amended to read as follows:
4 (a) "Serious condition" means:
5 (i) having one of the following severe debilitating or life-threaten-
6 ing conditions: cancer, positive status for human immunodeficiency virus
7 or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,
8 Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, damage to the nervous tissue of
9 the spinal cord with objective neurological indication of intractable
10 spasticity, epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease, neuropathies,
11 Huntington's disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, pain that degrades
12 health and functional capability where the use of medical marihuana is
13 an alternative to opioid use, substance use disorder, or as added by the
14 commissioner; and
15 (ii) any of the following conditions where it is clinically associated
16 with, or a complication of, a condition under this paragraph or its
17 treatment: cachexia or wasting syndrome; severe or chronic pain; severe
18 nausea; seizures; severe or persistent muscle spasms; or such conditions
19 as are added by the commissioner.
20 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
21 the amendments to section 3360 of the public health law, made by section
22 one of this act, shall not affect the repeal of such section and shall
23 be deemed repealed therewith.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15986-05-8
