Cuomo Faces Deadline On Medical Marijuana [UPDATE]

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York's governor is facing a deadline to sign legislation that would give critically ill individuals early access to medical marijuana before the state's full medical cannabis program begins.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo hasn't said whether he'll sign or veto the measure before Wednesday's midnight deadline.

The state's medical marijuana program is expected to be operational as early as January — a full 18 months after lawmakers approved it.

People with AIDS, terminal cancers and the parents of children with severe epilepsy have long pushed for early access, arguing that critically ill individuals shouldn't have to wait any longer for the drug.

Under the wider medical cannabis program, physicians will be able to authorize non-smokable forms of marijuana for patients with certain conditions.

UPDATED 4:17 pm.- State Senator Joseph Griffo say his bill to help certain critically ill patients obtain emergency access to medical marijuana has been signed into law by the Governor.

Griffo has released the following statement:

We thank the Governor today for signing this important bill, which I sponsored in the Senate along with Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, chairman of the Assembly Health Committee. We hope this legislation will now help critically ill patients and children, like young Mackenzie Kulawy of New York Mills who suffers from a severe form of epilepsy, get the immediate treatment they need so they no longer have to await relief from their pain and suffering.