Mom says she can't get medical marijuana for her son

A mother from Atlantic Beach says she still has not been able to get access to medical marijuana for her son despite the program beginning across the state in January. For four years, Missy Miller

News 12 Staff

Feb 27, 2016, 8:34 AM

Updated 3,124 days ago

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A mother from Atlantic Beach says she still has not been able to get access to medical marijuana for her son despite the program beginning across the state in January.
For four years, Missy Miller traveled back and forth from her home to Albany to fight for the passage of the Compassion Care Act, which is a medical marijuana program aimed at helping people, like her son Oliver, who suffer from severe seizures.
Though the law passed in July 2014, Miller says her son has not been able to access medical marijuana. She also calls the law's rollout flawed.
Hurdles she's encountered include finding a doctor to certify marijuana patients. The state Health Department is not releasing the names of doctors able to prescribe marijuana to the public. Another problem, Miller says, is that some in the medical community are concerned about possible federal legal troubles associated with the administration of the drug.
An additional barrier is the scarcity of medical marijuana in its pediatric oil form in New York. That's because the state does not allow shipment of the product used to make the pediatric oils, meaning that dispensaries in the state must cultivate their own oils from scratch, which can take months.
Miller says her battle will continue as she tries to overcome the hurdles to gain access to the drug for her son.
Miller says she also encountered computer glitches on the state Health Department website when she tried to upload information to register her son for the program. State Assemblyman Chad Lupinacci says anyone having similar problems should contact their local legislator to help facilitate the process.