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| Medical Pot Bill is Killed |
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Posted by CN Staff on May 25, 2002 at 06:57:42 PT By David Mace, Vermont Press Bureau Source: Rutland Herald 
The controversial question of whether Vermont should legalize marijuana use for people with serious illnesses like cancer or AIDS appears to be dead for this session. On Friday, a joint House-Senate conference committee reached a tentative agreement to kill the measure and instead appoint a task force to study the issue and report its findings to the next Legislature. Committee members couldn’t reconcile the differences in the bills passed by the two chambers. The House passed an ambitious plan to legalize possession, use, and cultivation of marijuana for people suffering from a specific list of disorders. The Senate approved a more modest “affirmative defense” bill that would have allowed sick people arrested for marijuana possession to claim their illness as a defense against prosecution. “The Senate and the House are too far apart to come to an agreement this year that everyone will be comfortable signing on to,” said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Richard Sears, D-Bennington. Instead, the plan is for Sears and House Judiciary Committee Chairwoman Margaret Flory, R-Pittsford, to send a letter to the state’s prosecutors asking them not to press charges for marijuana possession against anyone who suffers from serious diseases. Prosecutors say they generally don’t do so anyway. And the bill will set up a task force of police, prosecutors, doctors, advocates and medical marijuana users to examine the question and report its findings. Sears said lawmakers were purposely left off the panel. “I think (having them on) politicizes the issue too much,” he said. “I’m hoping these interest groups will be able to decide whether it’s wise or not.” The House bill permitted use and possession of marijuana to alleviate pain, nausea and other symptoms associated with diseases such as cancer, multiple sclerosis and AIDS. It required a doctor’s certification that the patient suffered from one of these conditions. That certification would be kept on file with the Department of Public Safety, which oversees the Vermont State Police. A patient or designated caregiver could possess up to three mature plants, four immature plants and 3 ounces of marijuana, and could grow the plant if they do it in a secure, indoor location. But Sears and others raised questions about the quantity that those plants would produce. And doctors were concerned that the federal government — whose marijuana laws would trump state law — would punish them if they appeared to be endorsing or prescribing an illegal drug. A compromise proposal by Rep. Michael Kainen, R-Hartford, that addressed the doctors’ concerns and tightened the possession amounts wasn’t enough to sway Sears and Senate negotiators. Gov. Howard Dean, a staunch opponent of medical marijuana who had hinted at a veto, said he would likely sign off on a study task force. “As far as I’m concerned they can urge the (federal Food and Drug Administration) to study it,” he said. Dean has said marijuana should go through the same FDA approval process as any new drug. Advocates for AIDS patients, who supported the House bill, tried to be optimistic. “We’re disappointed the Senate did not accept the (Kainen) compromise proposal,” said Gail Zatz, a lobbyist for the HIV Public Policy Project. “... But we will participate in the task force and work with other interested parties to find a way to join eight other states in making this a reality.” Source: Rutland Herald (VT) Related Articles & Web Sites: Marijuana Policy Project Medical Marijuana Information Links Medical Marijuana Bill Hits a Snag Senate Debates Medical Marijuana Bill CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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