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"New York legislators agreed to legalize some forms of medical marijuana on Thursday \u2014 but still won't allow patients to take a puff. \nDoctors \u2014 and only doctors \u2014 will be allowed to prescribe New Yorkers with vaporized and oil-based marijuana as well as marijuana pills to calm pain that can be associated with diseases such as AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis and epilepsy. \nGov. Andrew Cuomo is expected to sign the bill on Friday. Though the legislation is a win for medical marijuana activists, it didn't include some provisions they believe are important. \nSee also: Cannabis-Friendly Concerts Put Colorado Symphony on a High Note\n\u201CWe feel really good about the bill passing,\" Gabriel Sayegh, the New York Director at the The Drug Policy Alliance, told Mashable. But he added: \"It's certainly not the bill that we wanted.\"\nNew York is now the 23rd state to permit medical marijuana, but only the second that won't allow patients to smoke it, after Minnesota. \nNew York Governor Andrew Cuomo was insistent on the smoke-free provision \u2014 and he holds the reins in more ways than one. The legalization program would have to be renewed after seven years, and the governor's office will be granted the power to cancel it at any time. \nIn addition, doctors will have to receive training before they can give pot to patients. Those patients need to be certified by a doctor and must also obtain a state Department of Health identification card. \nCuomo also bowed to the concern of some Republican legislators who worried that allowing patients to smoke marijuana could provide them with an excuse to get high.\nThat notion comes from a misunderstanding of the science and the nature of doctor-patient relationships, Sayegh said. Some patients respond better to smoking marijuana than ingesting it in other ways, and he believes doctors should be allowed to determine the methodology behind the dosage. \nThat said, he's comfortable calling the bill a win for medical marijuana advocates.\n\u201CNew York could be a tipping point for the rest of the country, given New York's size and it being one of the media capitals of the country,\" Sayegh said. \u201CI think it\u2019s really significant that we got anything done at all.\u201D\nHave something to add to this story? Share it in the comments."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2014/06/20/new-york-legalizes-medical-marijuana-no-smoke/>