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| Bill Allows Medicinal Use Of Pot |
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Posted by FoM on March 19, 2002 at 10:50:43 PT By Lisa Chedekel, Courant Staff Writer Source: Hartford Courant 
A controversial proposal that would allow some chronically ill people to grow marijuana got an airing at the state Capitol Monday, but even its chief sponsor was uncertain whether the bill would get out of committee this year."I think it'll be a close vote," said state Rep. James W. Abrams, D-Meriden. The judiciary committee heard testimony Monday and will decide later this month whether to pass the bill on to the General Assembly for action. Under a proposal that Abrams first brought forward last year, people who suffer from certain chronic or debilitating medical conditions, such as cancer or HIV, would be able to seek a physician's written certification to grow a quantity of marijuana deemed "reasonably necessary" to alleviate painful symptoms. Patients or their caregivers who receive such certifications would register with the Department of Public Safety. Abrams said the proposal - prompted by the plight of one of his constituents - is intended to repair a state law, adopted in 1983, that allows physicians to prescribe marijuana to cancer and glaucoma patients. To date, no doctors have done so, largely because there is no place to fill such prescriptions, and physicians worry that they could be punished under federal law, which prohibits providing marijuana for medical use, Abrams said. "The legislature made a policy decision back in 1983, but in a highly flawed manner," he said. He acknowledged that his proposal wouldn't override federal law but would "shift the onus" of procuring medicinal marijuana from doctors to patients. Eight states, including Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine and Oregon, permit the medical use of marijuana. Late last week, the Vermont House of Representatives passed similar legislation, which now faces an uncertain fate in the Senate. Monday's hearing drew a handful of people who spoke in favor of the proposal. Among them was Ned Pocengal of New Haven, who said marijuana had eased symptoms he suffers from Crohn's disease, HIV and chronic hepatitis B infection. "Fortunately, I have found relief ... from one of my medical problems," he told the committee. "Unfortunately, the best way to alleviate my symptoms ... is currently illegal." Opponents of the medicinal use of marijuana argue that there are plenty of prescription drugs available to treat pain, and that it would be tough for law enforcers to regulate the use of marijuana. Some also say the policy would promote illegal drug use. In other business Monday, the judiciary committee heard testimony from representatives of the nursing home industry who oppose a bill that would strengthen penalties for abuse or neglect of nursing home residents. The proposal would make nursing home workers, including managers, subject to felony charges for failing to provide treatment or services necessary to the health or safety of residents. Representatives of the Connecticut Association of Health Care Facilities and the Connecticut Association of Not-for-Profit Providers for the Aging testified that the proposal was too broad and vague, and that there are already sufficient state and federal laws pertaining to abuse of the elderly. Source: Hartford Courant (CT) Related Articles & Web Site: Medical Marijuana Information Links Lawmakers to Reconsider Legislation for Pot State Talks Marijuana Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #1 posted by p4me on March 19, 2002 at 11:24:05 PT |
| It took a constitutional amendment to ban alcolol and another one to free the spirits. Why doesn't one legislature just skip all the futility and start to put a final solution to the MJ problem. The worst thing about marijuana is its cost. Free the weed with a constitutional amendment and get the price down. Anyone that signs a contract that they will not do T&A (tobacco and alcohol as in the WOD minus T&A) can get marijuana. Anyone with alcohol dependency should be allowed into a massive study of how to use MJ to help end the bond to alcohol. The marijuana laws suck and the politicians that have sponsored it don't even admit it to this day. My government is lying to me and Busch should never use the word compassionate to describe himself. I have posed the question before: How many times more harmful are the marijuana laws than the marijuana itself? I answered with a 100. I now say that 200 is a better answer. In a country where the Constitution was written to protect our freedoms, property, and quarantee our defense the present government seems to have written the words "except where cannabis is concerned." You have the DEA overriding law and procedures to remove hempfoods from the market and you have a Congress that is warping the constitution as Hutchinson has still not addressed his lying. The bastards in office have got to go. VAAI. [ Post Comment ] |
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