CT Gov Rell Vetos Homegrown Medical Marijuana

[Don]

Posted by CN Staff on June 19, 2007 at 14:27:20 PT
By The Associated Press

Hartford, CT -- Gov. M. Jodi Rell vetoed a bill Tuesday that would have legalized medicinal marijuana, acknowledging she struggled with the decision.

"I am not unfamiliar with the incredible pain and heartbreak associated with battling cancer," Rell, a Republican, wrote in her veto letter. "I have spoken and met with dozens of people on this issue, all of whom have presented their positions passionately and articulately."

But Rell, a cancer survivor, said she is concerned that the legislation sends the wrong message about drug use to Connecticut youth, and also does not spell out where patients and their caregivers would obtain marijuana plants.

"There are no pharmacies, storefronts or mail order catalogs where patients or caregivers can legally purchase marijuana plants and seeds," she said. "I am troubled by the fact that, in essence, this bill forces law-abiding citizens to seek out drug dealers to make their marijuana purchases."

Rell said she is also concerned that the bill is not limited to terminally ill patients.

The bill won final bipartisan legislative approval earlier this month, capping a five-year struggle that pitted broader patients' rights against concerns of easier access to an illicit drug. TV talk show host Montel Williams, diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999, came to the state Capitol to urge support for the bill. He said he uses marijuana in various forms to help alleviate intense pain and debilitating symptoms.

The legislation would have allowed residents older than 18 with specific medical conditions diagnosed by a physician to cultivate and use marijuana to relieve the draining symptoms of diseases such as cancer and MS. Patients with written certification from their physicians would have to register with the Department of Consumer Protection.

Lorenzo Jones, executive director of A Better Way Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supported the legislation, said Tuesday he had not known Rell would veto the bill. The organization expected to issue a formal response later Tuesday, he said.

According to the national Marijuana Policy Project, 12 states allow patients to use marijuana despite federal laws against it. A 13th state, Maryland, protects patients from jail but not arrest.

Connecticut already has a medical marijuana law, 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, physicians who prescribe marijuana can be sent to prison and risk having their medical licenses revoked.

[Ron61]

This is a catch 22 type thing. Here they wanted to limit it to just so many plants the patient could grow and of course you know where that goes. Example they could legally grow 10 plants and suddenly they have a half acre of them. I think if this is to work, and I am still not convinced of the benefits of it, they should have licenses growers and the doctor should have to prescribe just how much each patient is allowed just as with regular medicine. But then who is going to police the licensed growers.

Ron

[Mark IV]

But Gov. Rell was gonna give millions of dollars to Alan Lubinsky? Money better spent on good grass!

Rick

[imagine2frolic]

If it is for medicianl use. Why don't they just extract the THC, and administer it like eye drops? It would be like any other drug that is either taken properly, or abused. Liquor is much the same. You can have an occassional drink, have several an evening, or you can drink 2 fifths a night, and be a useless human being to society.

Some say they worry about controlling the distribution of the substance. Just look at Rush Limbaugh. He is a fine example of how the system can go haywire with any substance. It should be just another drug, manufactured, packaged, and distributed to those in need via the same system as any pain killer.