Members of state legislature are trying once again to get a medical marijuana bill passed. This will probably ring a bell for those who remember this immortal Gothamist post from April 9th, 2012: "Medical marijuana is on the agenda in Albany once again, with a State Senator working hard to corral Republicans for a soon-to-be-introduced bill. Maybe we're burned out from all the non-medical marijuana, but haven't we seen this movie before? Dude, that's right: in 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and probably a bunch of other years we can't remember." Like a very stoned man trying to unlock the door to his neighbor's apartment, maybe the 7th time's a charm?

Senator Diane Savino has again teamed up with Assemblyman Richard Gottfried to introduce legislation that would "establish a so-called seed-to-sale system similar to one used in Colorado, where companies are licensed by the state to grow, distribute and sell marijuana," the Daily News reports. Previous attempts to legalize pot for medicinal purposes have died in the senate, and last year Governor Cuomo said he thinks the "tremendous risks outweigh the benefits at this point."

If passed, New York would join eighteen other states, including New Jersey and Connecticut, in allowing patients with cancer, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS and other serious illnesses to access to medical marijuana. Julie Netherland, the Deputy Director of the Drug Policy Alliance's New York Policy Office, says, "Patients and their families in New York have suffered far too long because New York continues its retrograde approach to marijuana policies, even as other states move forward with more sensible approaches... There is simply no sensible reason for patients and their families to wait any longer for relief."

Earlier this month we enjoyed a pipe dream that the state budget would include legislation decriminalizing small quantities of marijuana that are not in public view. Cuomo has pushed for the change in connection to the NYPD's controversial stop-and-frisk policy, and the legislation would have made open-view possession a violation, answerable by a summons, instead of a misdemeanor. But the proposal was dropped and the debate postponed. Forget it Cheech, it's Albany.

