drugs

New York State Assembly Legalizes Medical Marijuana, Again

LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 25: Marijuana is seen in a jar at Perennial Holistic Wellness Center medical marijuana dispensary, which opened in 2006, on July 25, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. The Los Angeles City Council has unanimously voted to ban storefront medical marijuana dispensaries and to order them to close or face legal action. The council also voted to instruct staff to draw up a separate ordinance for consideration in about three months that might allow dispensaries that existed before a 2007 moratorium on new dispensaries to continue to operate. It is estimated that Los Angeles has about one thousand such facilities. The ban does not prevent patients or cooperatives of two or three people to grow their own in small amounts. Californians voted to legalize medical cannabis use in 1996, clashing with federal drug laws. The state Supreme Court is expected to consider ruling on whether cities can regulate and ban dispensaries. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
Photo: David McNew/Getty Images

In what’s become an almost annual ritual, the Assembly passed a bill legalizing medical marijuana yesterday. And in the culmination of that ritual, it will likely fail to become law. The bill, which allows patients to hold as much as two and a half ounces of weed, is a long shot to make it through the Senate or even be brought to a vote in the upper house. Apparently support by 88 percent of the state’s voters just isn’t enough.

N.Y. Assembly Legalizes Medical Marijuana, Again