STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Those addicted to opioids could have medical marijuana to turn to under legislation being proposed in Albany.
Two lawmakers, including State Sen. Diane Savino, introduced bills in both houses of the state Legislature in January that would add opioid addiction to the list of conditions that can be treated with medical marijuana.
While there have been modest improvements, the opioid crisis is still raging on Staten Island. There were 86 overdose fatalities in the borough last year and 286 "saves" using naloxone.
Savino (D-North Shore) said that current treatment methods for opioid addiction -- often a combination of therapy and treatment with medications -- sometimes have adverse effects on patients and marijuana, which isn't physically addictive, is well known for its use as a pain reliever.
"The difference between medical marijuana and Suboxone, Vivitrol, and methadone is it is not addictive," said Savino. "Those treatments are as addictive as the opioids that the patient came into treatment for. If you stop using them you have to go into detox, you could go into withdrawal, you could have seizures."
Later adding, "when we see patients desperately struggling and going to rehab multiple times because they cannot handle this addiction, this craving for opioid or the opioid replacement -- why would we shut a door in their face? Let them try it."
In 2016, Cuomo's administration began rolling out a highly regulated medical marijuana program.
Initially, only five registered organizations were allowed to operate and each organization could only have four dispensaries as well as single manufacturing place. Since then, the state's Health Department brought in five more companies, but they have yet to open any dispensaries, including Citiva Medical LLC's Staten Island dispensary.
Currently, the only conditions that can be treated with medical marijuana in New York are cancer, HIV infection or AIDS, Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS), Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease, neuropathy, Huntington's disease, post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic pain.
The state Assembly Health Committee passed the bill 23-1 last month and Savino -- who authored legislation to bring medical marijuana to New York in 2014 and successfully advocated for expansions to the program -- said she's confident that the bill will pass.
"I think we're going to get this done this session," Savino told the Advance. "I'm pretty persuasive when I want to be."