cannabisnews.com: Medical Marijuana Bill Clears Another Committee
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Medical Marijuana Bill Clears Another Committee
Posted by CN Staff on May 18, 2011 at 06:53:41 PT
By Daniela Altimari, The Hartford Courant
Source: Hartford Courant
Connecticut -- While a measure to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana appears to be losing steam, a bill to legalize the use of pot for medicinal purposes is moving ahead.The medical marijuana bill cleared another key committee, the finance committee, in a 32-14 vote Tuesday afternoon. It has already received the endorsements of the public health and judiciary committees.
Unlike the decriminalization bill, the medical marijuana measure has bipartisan support. In the finance committee, Republican Reps. Bill Aman, Clark Chapin, Livvy Floren and John Piscopo and Sen. Tony Guglielmo joined a majority of Democrats in voting for the bill.The measure, which now goes to the Senate for a vote, would prevent the state from prosecuting people for possession of marijuana if they had written certification from their physician allowing them to use it. A patient would need to be certified as having a debilitating condition, such as cancer, glaucoma, AIDS, Parkinson's disease or multiple sclerosis.The bill would allow the possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana, and up to four marijuana plants, provided they were no more than 4 feet high.Gov. M. Jodi Rell vetoed a medical marijuana bill in 2007. This year's bill has Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's support.The drive to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana appears to have come up short in the legislature this year. Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney, D-New Haven, conceded late last week that it did not have enough support in the chamber. The bill would make the penalty for possession of a half-ounce of marijuana or less akin to receiving a speeding ticket. The punishment would be a fine rather than criminal penalties.Currently, possession of less than 4 ounces of marijuana is punishable by up to one year in prison and a $1,000 fine.Source: Hartford Courant (CT)Author: Daniela Altimari, The Hartford Courant Published: May 17, 2011Copyright: 2011 The Hartford CourantContact: letters courant.comWebsite: http://www.courant.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/2qNfwiiPCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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Comment #5 posted by Hope on May 19, 2011 at 18:00:49 PT
"I smell marijuana"
Some officers will say that, for effect, every single time they pull a young person over. The fakest of the fake "probable" causes.
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Comment #4 posted by Storm Crow on May 19, 2011 at 12:12:09 PT
This is a good reason
To invest in a vaporizer- they smell way less than smoking! Of course, "I smell marijuana" will become the official battle cry of the cops as they charge, warrant-less, into our homes- whether there is cannabis present or not. I really liked having a constitution and a Bill of Rights, didn't you? I'm going to miss them! 
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Comment #3 posted by Sam Adams on May 18, 2011 at 10:08:55 PT
Connecticut
The one ounce limit is ridiculously small, but it's critical that this pass with patient growing allowed. IMO the cannabis reform movement should never give up that ground. Eliminating patient growing is exactly what Big Pharma wants. No matter what happens, they know they'll always have control over profits from every drug as long as people are banned from growing their own medicine.
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Comment #2 posted by Sam Adams on May 18, 2011 at 10:05:58 PT
sad day for US freedom
the Supreme Court case is unbelievable. They might as well just eliminate search warrants, there's no need for them now.The key thing to remember is that cops can ALWAYS say they smell cannabis, there doesn't have to be any cannabis.That why the cops here in Mass. are so furious about our decrim law. They were using the MJ laws to search anyone they wanted at any time.  Now that it's a 100% civil violation, the state supreme court just said they can't search people anymore based on smell of marijuana.And the kid from that case was arrested after being searched based on the smell of MJ but they never found any MJ. That is the way the cops have been operating for 90 years. Need to search a car, or break down a door? "I smell marijuana"At least now in Massachusetts they'll have to smell something else, they can never break in based on the smell of cannabis here again.
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Comment #1 posted by dongenero on May 18, 2011 at 07:35:54 PT
Supreme Court ruling on MJ odor-probable cause
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-morgan/what-does-the-supreme-cou_b_863415.htmlThis week's Supreme Court decision in Kentucky v. King has civil-libertarians and marijuana policy reformers in an uproar, and rightly so, but it's not exactly the death of the 4th Amendment. Here's a look at how this case could impact police practices and constitutional rights.It all started when police chased a drug suspect into a building and lost him. They smelled marijuana smoke coming from an apartment and decided to check it out, so they announced themselves and knocked loudly on the door. They heard movement inside, which the officers feared could indicate destruction of evidence, so they kicked in the door and entered the apartment. Hollis King was arrested for drugs and challenged the police entry as a violation of his 4th Amendment right against unreasonable searches.In an 8-1 decision written by Justice Alito, the Court determined that an emergency search was justified to prevent destruction of evidence, even though police created the risk of such destruction by yelling "Police!" and banging on the door. The determining factor, in the Court's view, was that police had not violated the 4th Amendment simply by knocking on the door. Since the subsequent need to prevent destruction of evidence was the result of legal conduct by the officers, the events that followed do not constitute a violation of the suspect's constitutional rights. 
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