TODAY: Patients, Caregivers, and Healthcare Providers Travel to Albany to Urge the NYS Legislature to Pass Comprehensive Medical Marijuana Legislation

Albany– Today, patients living with cancer, multiple sclerosis, severe seizure disorders, and other serious, debilitating medical conditions will gather in Albany for an advocacy day.  Traveling fromNew York City, Long Island, and Central New York, patients will demand that the New York State Legislature pass the Compassionate Care Act — A.6357-A (Gottfried) / S.4406-B (Savino) – before the end of this year’s legislative session on June 19th. The bill would create one of the nation’s most tightly regulated medical marijuana programs and allow seriously ill patients access to a small amount of marijuana under the supervision of their healthcare provider.

What: Compassionate Care NY Advocacy Day

When: Tuesday, March 13^th at 11 A.M

Location: New York State Capitol, 3^rd Floor, Albany, NY

Who: Patient and providers, including:   

• Nancy Rivera, grandmother from Troy and four-time cancer survivor
• Joan Sheehan, founding member and President of the Capital Region Action Against Breast Cancer (CRAAB), and Breast Cancer Survivor
• Margaret Decker, RN, from Mount Tremper, NY and aunt of child with severe seizure disorder currently living in Colorado
• Tracy Ofri, an MS patient from Valley Stream, Long Island
• Donna Schweir, retired nurse living with fibromyalgia from Medford, Long Island
• Members of the Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester
• Eileen Konieczny, RN, oncology nurse from New Paltz with more than twenty years of bedside nursing experience

Support for the Compassionate Care Act continues to grow. Last week Senator Joseph Robach(R-Rochester) signed on as the bill’s first Republican Co-Sponsor. Senator Robach’s co-sponsorship comes after he,along with 3 other Republican Senators (Grisanti, Maziarz, and O’Mara),said they publicly support the bill earlier this spring. This news was directly followed by Erie County GOP Chairman Nick Langworthy’s statement urging the NY State Republican Party to support the Compassionate Care Act. He noted: "There are people suffering, and this could potentially be a better solution for pain management and help them with various diseases.”

Patients and caregivers who are gathering in Albany agree and will be in Albany every week between now and the end of session to demand legislators take up the issue.

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