cannabisnews.com: MMJ Use: This Might Be The Year for Connecticut
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MMJ Use: This Might Be The Year for Connecticut
Posted by CN Staff on March 07, 2012 at 17:35:17 PT
By Jordan Fenster, Register Staff
Source: New Haven Register
Hartford -- A Medical marijuana supporters gathered at the state Capitol Wednesday to advocate for legalization of a drug they say is their only option and, according to several legislators, the bill may pass this session.“For some reason, even though this is a short session, I think this is the year,” said state Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield. State Rep. John Hetherington, R-New Canaan, echoed Kissel’s statement later in Wednesday’s public hearing. “This may be the year,” he said.
This is not the first time a bill for legalization of marijuana for medical purposes has come before the legislature. In 2007, a similar bill made it through the legislature, only to get vetoed by then-Gov. M. Jodi Rell. A similar bill last year did not even make it to the governor’s desk.This year, though Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has not commented on the specific legislation, spokesman Andrew Doba said, “The governor has said in the past that he supports the concept of the palliative use of marijuana for debilitating illnesses.”The current proposal differs in some ways from previous legislation, and many concerns, according to Kissel, have been addressed by those differences. Though it does give physicians immunity from prosecution for prescribing marijuana and patients immunity from prosecution for using it, the proposed legislation limits both the amount of the drug that can be prescribed and how many dispensaries are licensed to distribute it.It also limits dispensaries to existing pharmacies and puts the burden of licensing dispensaries in the hands of the commissioner of the Department of Consumer Protection, with state Rep. Penny Bachiochi, R-Stafford, calling the proposed bill a “restrictive and conservative approach.”Bachiochi, in her testimony before the Judiciary Committee and the audience in the packed hearing room, said she watched her husband succumb to cancer and, as it became clear that his nausea and pain were not being controlled by available pharmaceutical drugs, she turned to buying marijuana, which helped to alleviate his symptoms.Since becoming a legislator in 2005, Bachiochi said she has campaigned in the House many times for the passage of a medical marijuana legalization bill, but to no avail. “At the end of the day, this group of legislators has to have the will and the courage to pass this bill,” she said.Not all Republicans were in favor of legalizing marijuana for palliative uses. A full hour of testimony was given by state Sen. Toni Boucher, R-Wilton, who called marijuana a “dangerous drug” that “affects the psychology of the brain.”Boucher pointed out that though Marinol, a drug in pill form synthesized from THC, the chemical inside marijuana, is legal in Connecticut, medical marijuana is a violation of federal law, a point Republican state Rep. Al Adinolfi, of Cheshire, felt was important.“I am very troubled about this bill. We are violating federal law if it passes,” he said. “If I was the chair, I would just box the bill, because it’s illegal, and you’re asking us to vote on something that’s illegal.”Supporters, however, spoke passionately about medical uses of the drug, and insisted that, in many cases, it may be their only option to deal with the pain and nausea associated with a variety of illnesses.Eric Baier of Farmington, for example, told the Judiciary Committee of his enzyme deficiency, which he said causes many pain medications to not work.“Medical marijuana might be my only hope of living a pain-free, normal life,” he said. “I need this to be able to live a happy and productive life.”Barry Williams, a lobbyist until a Parkinson’s diagnosis cut short his career in 2006, broke into tears as he testified to how his world has “become smaller and smaller.”“If I smoked marijuana, there’s a good chance I could be symptom-free for a while,” he said.Williams’ testimony evoked emotion from several members of the Judiciary Committee, many who said they had known him as a lobbyist, including New London Democrat state Rep. Ernest Hewett. “By God, if you want medical marijuana, if it takes my vote to get it, you’re going to have it,” he said. Source: New Haven Register (CT)Author: Jordan Fenster, Register StaffPublished: March 7, 2012Copyright: 2012 New Haven RegisterContact: letters nhregister.comWebsite: http://www.nhregister.comURL: http://drugsense.org/url/OA8UeFZNCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on March 08, 2012 at 10:08:03 PT
greenmed
I think a full moon is beautiful.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #12 posted by FoM on March 08, 2012 at 10:06:31 PT
Afterburner
You are correct.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #11 posted by afterburner on March 08, 2012 at 09:27:54 PT
FoM #3
"Nixon and Reagan did plenty of damage."As did Bushes 1 & 2, as you know. Under Bush 1, "The FDA closed its medical marijuana IND program (the Compassionate Investigational New Drug program) in 1991, facing an influx of AIDS patients seeking access to the drug."
-Investigational New Drug
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investigational_New_Drug#Noteworthy_examples{ "The remaining patients in the Compassionate IND program were grandfathered in. " "Name of Patient: Musikka, Elvy"Diagnosis: Glaucoma "Date Entered IND Program: Oct. 17, 1988 "Marijuana Dosage Per Month*: 8 ounces"Years in Program (through 12/31/10): 22 "Status (as of 4/21/10): Still Receives Med MJ" }
-Compassionate Investigational New Drug program
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compassionate_Investigational_New_Drug_programYet, some states have the gall to remove glaucoma from the list of approved diseases to qualify for a medicinal cannabis recommendation.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #10 posted by runruff on March 08, 2012 at 07:35:21 PT
What's wrong with this picture?
The head of the Co. DEA says she is looking for a community...oh you know, I just noticed, I'm on the wrong thread.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #9 posted by runruff on March 08, 2012 at 07:03:52 PT
Big letdown!
To move from the Bronx to Colorado to get away from the roaches only to find yourself living next door to a whole family of them!
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #8 posted by runruff on March 08, 2012 at 07:00:58 PT
La cocka-roachas!
Moving to a neighborhood in colorado and not expecting to have to live side by side with herb gardeners growing an illegal herb is patently irrational [PC for stuuuupid!]. It is like buying an apartment in the Bronx to get away from the cockroaches in So. Brooklyn.
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Comment #7 posted by The GCW on March 08, 2012 at 05:29:09 PT
US CO: EDITORIAL: Out of touch on Colo. pot policy
Webpage: http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_20124194/editorial-out-touch-colo-pot-policy
Pubdate: 8 Mar. 2012Out of touch on Colo. pot policy
Comments by the DEA's Denver field chief further expose the feds' disconnect on medical marijuana. We're happy to see that Barbra Roach, who took over as head of the Denver division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration this year, is committed to focusing on the "top echelon" of criminal organizations given the agency's limited resources. "I want to see the cases we work are quality," she told The Denver Post's Felisa Cardona. "I want to continue to strive for the large drug trafficking organizations — not just domestically, but internationally."That seems like the right priority, since those groups not only traffic in large quantities of dangerous drugs but are ruthless and violent, too.Meanwhile, we suppose, any DEA official coming to Colorado will feel obliged to reiterate the federal government's opposition to medical marijuana, as Roach did, but we were nonetheless surprised at the extent of her indictment. "By federal law, marijuana is illegal," Roach said. "There is no medical proof it has any benefit. People are not taking into account what can happen to those who are growing it. There are homes with mold and water damage in the hundreds of thousands and there are children in there, too."For that matter, Cardona wrote, "she is choosing a city for her husband and two children to live in where no marijuana dispensaries are allowed."Yet surely Roach is aware that prescription Marinol contains synthetic THC, the main active ingredient in marijuana. Indeed, the DEA contends Marinol is an appropriate legal substitute for marijuana. So if there is an unsettled scientific question, it's whether marijuana provides relief to some that Marinol does not. Unfortunately, the research appears inconclusive even if personal anecdotes suggest the answer is "yes." Cont.
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Comment #6 posted by Hope on March 07, 2012 at 20:39:04 PT
Liberals did it.
It's the latest Republican thing. It's their boogie man. They literally blame "the liberals" for absolutely everything they think is wrong in government and heck, the whole world, while their at it. "My hair looks terrible today." ... "It's the liberals". "The liberals did it". Limbaugh must have said, "Blame the liberals"... and they do... for everything.And by "liberals", I think they mean everyone but themselves.I know, the self styled "Conservatives" have been bad mouthing "Liberals" for years, but they seem to have upped the ante lately. They just automatically blame "the liberals" for everything... instantly. No discussion. No nothing. "The liberals did it".
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Comment #5 posted by The GCW on March 07, 2012 at 20:13:14 PT
FoM,
It's nice when anyone agrees to end cannabis prohibiton and extermination. Especially P.R. types. The liberals fault? Maybe also, but the repubs seem to own cannabis prohibition more than liberals or dems. But the Dems don't gather around ending it either.It's up to us.
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Comment #4 posted by greenmed on March 07, 2012 at 20:03:42 PT
Off Topic
The full moon is an impressive view this evening. The object nearby is Mars.It is the Lenten Moon, and the Worm Moon in Algonquin...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_moon#Full_moon_names
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on March 07, 2012 at 19:19:18 PT
The GCW
I find Pat Robertson hard to believe on anything he says. He is correct the laws need changed but it sure isn't liberals fault. Nixon and Reagan did plenty of damage.
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Comment #2 posted by The GCW on March 07, 2012 at 18:43:01 PT
...but he's blaming the liberals?
Pat Robertson Blames Liberals for Drug War and Overincarcerationhttp://www.cannabisculture.com/v2/content/2012/03/06/Pat-Robertson-Blames-Liberals-Drug-War-and-OverincarcerationPat Robertson created a firestorm when he first called for the decriminalization of marijuana in December 2010, causing even his Christian Broadcasting Network's own publicist to deny that that's what he actually meant.Well, in a March 1 segment of "The 700 Club" that went largely unnoticed, Dr. Robertson is at it again, reiterating his call for marijuana reform and even blaming liberals for the U.S.'s overincarceration problem.cont
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on March 07, 2012 at 18:03:28 PT
I Hope So
Now they don't have a Republican Governor that should help.
[ Post Comment ]
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