Medical Marijuana has major benefits, the author writes (photo: Wikimedia Commons)

As a teenager growing up on Long Island, I struggled with both anxiety and depression daily. After being attacked and hurt in a workplace injury during college I began experiencing symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder daily, and night terrors every time I attempted to sleep. My anxiety worsened considerably and became a constant companion; I was deeply depressed. Getting up was difficult, attending school felt impossible, and going to my part-time jobs was out of the question.

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Gov. Cuomo at a med mar announcement (photo via the Governor's Office)

As a 67-year-old cancer survivor who suffers from chronic pain as a result of cancer treatments, medical marijuana has allowed me to resume a more normal life free of addictive opioid medications. I hope that lawmakers will now consider expanding the state’s medical marijuana program so that more New Yorkers will have the same access to these important treatments as an alternative to the powerful prescription painkillers that sparked the opioid crisis in our