The state’s medical-marijuana program, which started Jan. 1, allows patients with serious illnesses to get the drug in non-smokeable forms. But the program has been beset with criticism for limited access and not enough doctors being able to prescribe the drug.

“Due to a lack of physician participation and a highly restrictive list of conditions, there are simply not enough patients to able to access what was supposed to be a ‘compassionate’ system,” Kate Hintz, a North Salem, Westchester County, mother, said at a Capitol news conference.

Hintz’ five-year-old daughter, Morgan, suffers from a rare form of epilepsy.

“We were told that New York’s program would be an example of how to get medical marijuana right, and instead we have fallen far short of that goal,” she said. [Read more at the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin]