Lothar121

State Senate Approves Medical Marijuana
WFSB | 06/04/2005

HARTFORD (AP) - A bill to legalize medical marijuana is heading to the Connecticut House. The Senate approved the bill 19-to-15 early today.

It would allow the Department of Consumer Protection to license physicians, who could then certify patients for medical marijuana. A certified patient could cultivate and grow up to four plants for personal use.

The drug could be used by people with diseases such as cancer, glaucoma, H-I-V-AIDS, Parkinson's and multiple sclerosis.


Senate Takes Up Medical Marijuana Legislation
Newsday | 06/03/2005

HARTFORD, Conn. -- The state Senate was debating a bill Friday night that would fully legalize the medical use of marijuana for debilitating illnesses such as AIDS and cancer.

Proponents said they've heard from physicians that smoking the illegal drug can reduce everything from severe pain and nausea to seizures and persistent muscle spasms.

"I view it as throwing out just one oar to someone who is drowning in a sea of disease," said Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield, who had opposed medical marijuana for the first 11 years of his 13-year Senate career.

He said constituents changed his mind when they told him of their experiences using the drug.

This is the first time the Connecticut Senate has taken up the legislation. In 2004, an amendment allowing chronically ill patients to grow and use marijuana passed the House of Representatives but never received a Senate vote.

Opponents questioned whether it was proper for the legislature to consider legalizing the medical use of marijuana because the bill has both scientific and medical ramifications.

"Are we the appropriate body to decide that?" asked Sen. William Nickerson, R-Greenwich. "I suggest that we are not."

Connecticut already has a medical marijuana law on the books, one of the first in the nation. Under the 1981 law, a doctor can prescribe the illegal drug to relieve nausea associated with chemotherapy and eye pressure from glaucoma.

But the law is unworkable because, under federal law, a physician who prescribes marijuana can be sent to prison and risks having his or her medical license revoked. That's why no prescriptions for marijuana have been issued since the law was approved.

Under the new bill, the Department of Consumer Protection could license physicians to certify a patient's use of marijuana for treatment of various debilitating conditions without fear of arrest or prosecution.

A patient with such a certification could then legally cultivate and grow up to four marijuana plants for personal use. The bill does not spell out how the patient would obtain marijuana seeds, but allows them to do so legally.

The patient would need to register with the Department of Consumer Protection within five days of receiving the certification. There would be a $25 fee.

According to the bill, a "debilitating medical condition" means cancer, glaucoma, HIV-AIDS, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord, epilepsy, cachexia or wasting syndrome.

Eleven other states have some form of medical marijuana law on the books, said Sen. Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford, co-chairman of the legislature's Judiciary Committee.

He said a University of Connecticut poll last year found 83 percent of state residents support legalizing the medical use of marijuana.

"They know that it can provide relief to people in their darkest hours," McDonald said.

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killer12382

This bill is DOA.