Upon further reflection following my first post on the Cuomo announcement and triggered by an interchange with a friend, I had the following thought:

Governor Cuomo’s stated intent to resurrect and give effect to the Oliveiri Statute is a direct challenge to the Senate opponents of the medical use of cannabis. New York already is a “medical cannabis” Fn1 state and has been for thirty+ years by virtue of the Oliveiri Statute of 1980.

Since medical cannabis has been the law in New York state for decades, the Senators cannot legitimately oppose the medical use of cannabis per se.
They can only object to the manner of distribution and perhaps the scope of maladies for which it is available.
Therefore, the Senate must put forth its counterproposal for a distribution system, not argue as to whether there should be one under the law – because there already is one under the law.

[Fn 1. A/K/A “medical marijuana” for all you people searching “New York,” “license,” “grow” and “marijuana”]