Former New York Republican Senator Al D'Amato wants to broaden patient access to the Empire State's medical marijuana program, which Gov. Curomo signed into law three years ago.
The conservative politico confesses that he is an unlikely champion of pot, growing up in a conservative Italian-American family during the "reefer madness" era.
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D'Amato with President Reagan"I began my service in the U.S. Senate as Ronald Reagan became our President and First Lady Nancy Reagan led the charge to 'just say no,'” he wrote in an op-ed piece today in the New York Daily News. "Nobody was more anti-drugs than I was."
D'Amato, who is working with the New York chapter of the Marijuana Policy Project, says his views changed as he learned more about pot.
He praised lawmakers for their openness about marijuana and for providing access, which he believes improves the health and quality of life for New Yorkers
The founder of Park Strategies urged Cuomo to sign a bill passed earlier this year to provide medical marijuana to people with post-traumatic stress disorder, which affects 20 percent of veterans of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and eight percent of the overall populaton.
He also wants New York to explore whether medical marijuana should be used to combat the opioid crisis.
Beyond the medical use, D'Amato wants to begin the conversation about legalizing the adult use of marijuana.
"There was a time in my life when I would have been unequivocally opposed to such an idea," he wrote in the op-ed. "However, as I’ve gotten older and learned more, and as adult use continues to gain momentum across the country, it is clearly becoming time to have that debate in New York."
MAP launched in 1995 to change federal law to allow states to set their own marijuana laws, and regulate pot like alcohol.
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