We still need your help: Ask Speaker Silver to come out for medical marijuana in the budget

Published: June 22, 2010

We’re running out of time and we can’t leave patients behind. It’s day two of our Legislature Watch, and we will be keeping you updated every day this week until we see the law passed. As the New York legislative session edges closer to its end, we still do not have a budget, nor a medical marijuana law. As the session ends, it will be very difficult to pass medical marijuana if it is not in the budget. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) has not publicly committed to including medical marijuana in the budget, even though the Assembly has passed a less restrictive bill twice before. Please make sure that Speaker Silver stands up for patients by supporting the inclusion of this compassionate and revenue-generating legislation in the budget.

Please call Speaker Silver TODAY to ask him to publicly support placing medical marijuana in the budget this week.

You’ve done a great job building momentum and spreading the word so far. Hundreds have called Gov. Paterson to ask him to stand up for patients. And, today more than a dozen patients, nurses, legislators, and health professionals turned out for a press conference to call on Gov. Paterson and the legislature to protect patients.

The Senate passed a resolution in March calling for medical marijuana to be included in the budget, and the Assembly has long been supportive — passing medical marijuana bills in 2007 and 2008. But on Friday, that support for medical marijuana’s inclusion in the budget seemed to be wavering. The budget is a natural place for the bill because it would raise tens of millions of dollars for the cash-strapped state through modest excise taxes and licensing fees.

Make sure this compassionate bill does not slip away. Let Speaker Silver know that the time to act is now and that the issue must be included in the budget. Please also urge other New Yorkers to follow suit. Forward this message to at least ten New Yorkers, post the link to your social networking sites, and otherwise spread the word. We must not let another year go by with patients criminalized for treating their illnesses.

Thank you for your support and compassion.