Support compassionate medical care

Thousands of New Yorkers suffer from cancer, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS, or severe disability. The suffering of these patients, especially those in the last stages of their life, is devastating for them and their families. Medical marijuana can alleviate the suffering of many of these patients.

In June of 2014, the New York legislature passed legislation that will allow healthcare providers to recommend the medical use of marijuana under carefully controlled circumstances. New York’s medical marijuana law will allow healthcare providers to talk to their patients about medical marijuana and certify those with certain serious illnesses, so that they may have access to medical marijuana.

Compassionate Care NY (CCNY), which worked to pass the law, is now working to ensure that New York’s medical marijuana program is implemented swiftly and effectively so that patients across New York who are suffering from serious illnesses or debilitating conditions can access the medicine they need. CCNY also recognizes that some patients will not survive the eighteen months the law provides for the implementation of the full program. Therefore, we are also working to get the state to establish an interim, emergency access program for critically ill patients.

Compassionate Care NY is a statewide group of patients, providers and organizations working together to relieve the suffering of thousands of seriously ill New Yorkers by establishing a carefully regulated medical marijuana program in New York. The Compassionate Care NY Campaign is a project of the Drug Policy Alliance.