Medical marijuana push begins in NY

The New York Post reports today that lobbyists will start pushing state lawmakers to act on medical marijuana legislation.

"Big Marijuana has tapped politically juiced Albany lobbyists — including powerhouse Patricia Lynch Associates — to spread the smoky ganja gospel in the Empire State," the Post's Carl Campanile writes.

Voters in Massachusetts approved medical marijuana in last week's election. Meanwhile, Colorado and Washington voted to legalize marijuana.

The Post reports that Patricia Lynch Associates "has connections on both sides of the aisle."

"She’s a former top aide to Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, and one of her managing partners, Patrick McCarthy, is former executive director of the state Republican Party and an aide to former GOP Gov. George Pataki," the article says.

Staten Island state Sen. Diane Savino told the Post the medical marijuana is "inevitable" in New York.

"We're going to negotiate this bill with the wind at our backs," Savino told the newspaper. "There's tremendous support to legalize medical marijuana in New York."

I'll be talking to lawmakers from the North Country in the coming weeks to see where they stand on the issue.