A group of NY State politicians has banded together to sponsor a bill to legalize medical marijuana, through a "registered dispensing facility" with doctor approval. And State Sen. Diane Savino made a personal appeal to Governor Cuomo yesterday in a letter in which she invokes the memory of her parents, who both died of cancer, and calls out NY for falling behind NJ. "As someone who has lost both parents to cancer, I know first-hand what it is like to see a loved one in pain and not be able to do anything about it," she wrote.

Anyone who has watched a loved one struggle with a debilitating illness would do almost anything to help alleviate their pain. New Jersey showed real compassion for Garden State residents who are suffering from cancer, multiple sclerosis and other life-threatening diseases. We need to follow this example and pass legislation to allow doctors to prescribe medical marijuana when no other option is available.

Under the new bill, which she is co-sponsoring with Sen. Thomas Duane and Assembly Health Committee Chairman Richard Gottfried, eligible patients would be required to register with the state Health Department and be limited to having just 2.5 ounces of pot at a time. Last year, NYC's special narcotics prosecutor Bridget Brennan sent a letter to NY state legislators arguing against a medical marijuana legalization bill. And even before he was elected Governor, Cuomo has long been dubious of the advantages of it. He is quoted as having said during his gubernatorial campaign, "The dangers of medical marijuana outweigh the benefits." But...what dangers might those be?

To that end, we've contacted state Sen. Savino to ask her what Cuomo might mean, and are awaiting her response.