New York state to allow medical use of marijuana New York is set to become the 21st US state to allow medical marijuana use amid expanding liberalisation of cannabis laws across the country. Andrew Cuomo, governor, who has previously opposed medical marijuana, will announce an executive action permitting a small number of hospitals to prescribe the drug to patients with cancer, glaucoma or other serious illnesses, according to lawmakers and advocates briefed by the governor's staff. Mr Cuomo's office did not reply to a request for comment. The plan was first reported by the New York Times. While New York's measure will be much more limited than laws in many of the other states that allow medical cannabis, it is part of an expanding trend across the country toward less punitive drug laws. Marijuana is still illegal under federal law, but 20 states and the District of Columbia allow some form of medical use. Colorado and Washington have gone furthest, with voters approving legalisation of recreational marijuana use in 2012. Pot went on sale at licensed retailers in Colorado on January 1 with officials projecting sales of about $578m this year that would add nearly $70m in tax revenue to state coffers. Sales in Washington are set to start in the coming months. Another dozen states, including Rhode Island and Alaska, may consider recreational legalisation this year and 10 others are weighing medical marijuana bills, according to the Drug Policy Alliance, which supports reform of drug laws. The group, which has a national annual budget of $13m, counts among its board members George Soros, who has donated millions of dollars in support of legalising the drug in the US. Mr Cuomo is expected to announce the policy in his "state of the state" speech on Wednesday. It will implement a little-known 1980 New York law allowing certain patients to use controlled substances. It does not allow for any production of the plant in the state. Last year, the governor signalled a softening of his stance on marijuana when he supported a bill to decriminalise possession of small amounts of the drug. Supporters of medical marijuana, who have long criticised New York's tough approach, welcomed Mr Cuomo's move, which they said they were not aware of before being briefed on Saturday. "It is frankly a really bold leadership move," said Gabriel Sayegh, New York state director for the Drug Policy Alliance. His group says New York state makes more annual marijuana arrests than Texas or California, which have larger populations. "The governor, who was opposed to this for years, has turned around and not just said he will support medical use but is doing everything in his executive authority [to allow it]," Mr Sayegh said. Richard Gottfried, a New York state assemblyman who chairs the health committee and who has been a longtime supporter of medical legalisation, said he hoped Mr Cuomo's change of heart would result in the passage of new, broader medical marijuana legislation. A bill has been approved by the assembly four times but has not yet been voted on by the state senate. "The fact that he has endorsed the principle of medical use advances the issue tremendously in New York and makes it very clear that it is long overdue for New York to enact what could be the best medical marijuana law in the country," Mr Gottfried said. He said he believed there were enough votes in the senate to pass a bill. Medical marijuana is now a fact, there's no more dispute about its value. It's a political reality," Mr Sayegh said. We're in a new era.