420 with CNW — How New Cannabis Law in New York Could Impact Medical Marijuana

April 9, 2021 03:25:46

As March drew to a close, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill to legalize recreational marijuana in New York, making it the 15th state alongside the District of Columbia to allow adult-use cannabis. The legislation will allow adults over age 21 to possess up to 24 grams of cannabis concentrate and 3 ounces of cannabis flower; adults will also be allowed to grow up to six cannabis plants at home. Additionally, the bill will automatically expunge prior cannabis offenses that are now considered legal.

Medical cannabis patients in New York will be happy to know that the adult-use bill will also have positive implications for the medical marijuana sector. For starters, it will allow doctors to prescribe cannabis for a lot more medical conditions than current legislation allows. At the moment, state law allows doctors to only prescribe medical cannabis to patients with certain qualifying conditions. According to the state department of health, the new law will allow doctors to prescribe medical cannabis for any medical condition that they feel warrants that kind of treatment.

Additionally, the new bill will also allow medical cannabis patients to grow their own marijuana at home, giving rural patients who have to travel miles to get their medical cannabis a reprieve. Penelope Hamilton Crescibene, for instance, has an autoimmune disease called Sjögren’s syndrome that causes her chronic pain. A rural customer living in Genesee County, she would be forced to travel all the way to Buffalo or Rochester to pick up her medical cannabis prescription, traveling for around two hours every time.

With the new recreational cannabis legislation in place, she can now grow her own cannabis at home. She will now have much more control over the medical cannabis she consumes, including the specific genetics that would benefit her the most and whether or not the cannabis will be grown organically. Allaying fears that increased access to cannabis would lead to overuse, Steuben County Health Commissioner Darlene Smith says that patients who are dealing with chronic pain and disability are more likely to use their cannabis as per their doctor’s instructions to ensure it lasts until their next prescription.

On top of increasing patient access to medical cannabis, the new recreational cannabis bill allows designated caregivers to pick up medical cannabis for patients under age 21, and it abolishes the $50 fee patients were required to pay to obtain a medical cannabis card. Patients will also be able to pick up enough medical cannabis for 60 days at once, up from only 30 days’ worth of cannabis that is presently allowed.

The reforms being made to the cannabis policies at state level in various jurisdictions appear to ease the environment within which companies such as Golden Leaf Holdings Ltd. (CSE: GLH) (OTCQB: GLDFF) attempt to serve the different needs of the populations within those jurisdictions.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Golden Leaf Holdings Ltd. (CSE: GLH) (OTCQB: GLDFF) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://cnw.fm/GLDFF

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