MDNews - Central New York

L A S T M O N T H G O V E R N O R A ndrew Cuomo attended 13 listening sessions across the state about the proposal to legalize and regulate the recreational u s e of m a r iju a n a , i nc lud i n g t ho s e in Bing ha mton, Buf fa lo, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica and Watertown. The proposal for legalizing marijuana could come to a vote nex t yea r in the State Assembly and the State Senate. At the first listening session in Albany, Joseph R. Sellers, MD, Treasurer of the Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY) and President of MSSNY's Political Action Committee, spoke on behalf of MSSNY. Dr. Sellers testified that the State Medical Society opposes legislation to legalize recreational use of marijuana but supports decriminaliza- tion for possession. He noted that data from jurisdictions that legalized can- nabis demonstrated concerns resulting in increased calls to poison control centers, and emergency department visits, as well as an increase in traffic deaths due to can- nabis related impaired driving. MSSNY sent out several texts and emails urging members to attend and speak at listening sessions in their area. At the listening session in Syracuse, Bria n Johnson, MD, President of the Onondaga County Medical Society and a psychiatric addiction specia list at Upstate Medical University, shared his resolution, which has been approved by the county medical society's governing body, with those in attendance. Dr. Johnson's work is titled, Onondaga County Medical Society Resolution on Public Health Stance Regarding Sales of Marijuana. The resolution points out that nine states have legalized recreational mari- juana and "encourages New York state to sell marijuana as an activity of state government rather than allow private compa nies to sell ma rijua na lega lly. This approach will contain, regulate and discourage use, and provide addiction treatment at point of sale. Suggested site of sale is the Public Health Department in each New York county. All revenues will accrue to the state so as to fully com- pensate citizens of New York state for the direct and indirect costs of legalizing an addictive drug." In the Canadian province of Ontario, "all alcohol is sold by a state monopoly." The above resolution makes the sound argument that sales of addictive drugs can be a state monopoly. Thomas J. Madewski, MD, President of MSSNY, invited Dr. Johnson to join him and others in Albany for a meeting to develop and execute effective strategy to attain the State Medical Society goals regarding marijuana and related subjects. These goals can not be achieved if physi- cians, hospitals and other health-related groups, as well as the general public, don't get together in support of these goals. Ea rlier this fa ll, Dr. Johnson pub- lished a n a r ticle tit led Engineering Neurobiological Systems: Addictions. In the introduction, he writes that 100 mil- lion people were killed by tobacco in the 20th century, putting the population on track for 1 billion deaths from tobacco usage in the 21st century. The chance of someone using illicit drugs is 80 times higher if they begin smoking before the age of 15. Given that the average of onset of smoking is 13, most victims are captured as children. Alcohol, the other addictive drug legal when the United States was founded in 1776, kills 4 percent of the popu lation . T went y-f ive percent of Americans die from using drugs. Selective addictive drugs in the United States generate $845 billion per year, which is 5 percent of the gross national product. G e ra l d "Je r r y " N . Ho f f m a n w a s chief executive officer of the Onondaga County Medical Society from 1981 until his retirement on Jan. 31, 2014 . He is the coauthor of two books , " Medical Malpractice Insurance: A Legislator's View," and "The History of Local Medical Care: Celebrating Physicians of Past and Present, 1806–2006." n BY JERRY HOFFMAN Legalizing Recreational Use of Marijuana M D N E W S . C O M /// M D N E W S C E N T R A l N E W Y O R K ■ 2 018 0 5 H E A lT H C A R E P E R S P E C T I V E ❰❰❰❰❰ 0 5

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