Pubdate: Tue, 22 Feb 2011
Source: New Haven Advocate (CT)
Copyright: 2011 New Mass Media, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.newhavenadvocate.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/291
Author: Gregory B. Hladky

MEDICAL MARIJUANA MAY BE LEGALIZED, BUT DON'T EXPECT TO SEE IT SOLD AT COLLEGES

Sorta-high times.

Now we've got a governor willing to get behind medical marijuana and
decriminalization of small amounts of pot. So the obvious questions
is, can complete legalization be far behind?

Unfortunately, the answer is almost certainly yes. Connecticut is a
long way from being ready to allow grass to be bought and sold
legally, no matter how many millions of badly needed tax dollars it
might generate.

"I just don't think that would be appropriate in the current
situation," says Michael Lawlor, Gov. Dannel Malloy's top criminal
justice policy adviser and a former lawmaker who for years backed both
medical marijuana and decriminalization of pot.

Malloy is willing to get behind concepts like allowing marijuana for
medical purposes and decriminalizing grass (he submitted bills on both
last week), but he was also cautious enough to not actually use the
word "marijuana" in his budget address.

Instead, Malloy argued that reducing the number of people arrested and
jailed for "minor, non-violent or drug offenses" would be one way to
cut state costs at a time when we're facing a deficit of more than
$3.5 billion.

"This new policy will save us millions of dollars, which is a benefit
of a more enlightened policy whose time I think has come," was the way
our new Democratic governor put it.

Malloy never mentioned that he planned to offer a bill to legalize
medical marijuana, something that passed the legislature in 2007 only
to be vetoed by Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell.

Medical marijuana isn't a party-line issue in Connecticut.

"It feels good to see the light at the end of the tunnel," says state
Rep. Penny Bacchiochi, a Republican from the northeastern Connecticut
town of Somers who has been the most outspoken advocate for medical
marijuana in the General Assembly.

"This is the ninth year I've been here working on this," she explains.
Bacchiochi has made emotional pleas for the legislation, explaining to
fellow lawmakers how she had to illegally buy grass for her
cancer-stricken husband years ago. He died, and Bacchiochi has
campaigned for medical marijuana ever since.

The legislation Malloy is offering is virtually identical to the bill
passed four years ago. It would allow a person who has a prescription
for the medical use of marijuana, or that person's caregiver, to
legally grow a limited number of plants for his or her personal use.

With Malloy backing the bill this year, Bacchiochi is cautiously
confident it will finally become law. She's also a realist: "I was
pretty confident in 2007 and then, boom! [Governor Rell] vetoed it."

"You can never be sure with the legislature," she warns. "The train
can go off the tracks at a million different stops."

She is less confident about prospects for decriminalization of pot.
Bacchiochi says she's been hesitant about taking a stand on
decriminalization, fearing involvement in that debate might "confuse
my issue [medical marijuana] a little bit."

Bacchiochi does think the extraordinary circumstances of this
Democratic governor, with Lawlor as his point man, in a year when
every dollar saved will help the deficit, could produce some
surprising results. "All the stars are lined up," she says.

The anti-decriminalization forces are already gearing up for a
fight.

The bill the governor's proposing would make possession of less than
an ounce of grass an infraction. There would be no jail time for
conviction (right now, getting caught with that amount of pot could
land you in prison for a year), and the heaviest penalty would be a
$100 fine that you could pay the same way you pay a traffic ticket.
Malloy's plan is the same one now in effect in Massachusetts.

"I don't believe he will get a lot of support in my party," state
Senate Republican Leader John McKinney of Fairfield says. "It sends a
horrible message to high-school students and college students. aE& I
can't imagine marijuana usage going down if we decriminalize it."

Democrats like state Rep. Steve Dargan of West Haven are also likely
to vote no. "Right now, I'm against it," says Dargan, who is
co-chairman of the legislature's Public Safety Committee.

Deputy House Republican Leader Themis Klarides of Derby doesn't like
the idea either. She argues that very few people are actually sent to
prison in Connecticut for having less than an ounce of pot. "There are
10 different programs they can enter right now to help them stay out
of jail," she says.

Lawlor acknowledges there are now only about 60 people actually
serving time in this state for minor pot possession of small amounts,
but says there are another 1,000 folks on probation for that offense.
Lawlor argues that the big savings for the state with
decriminalization would come from reduced paperwork and staff time for
police, prosecutors and the courts if all they had to do was treat
minor possession as an infraction.

Bacchiochi believes it could take a long time to bring Connecticut
voters around to the idea of complete legalization of marijuana.

After all, she says, "medical marijuana is a much softer concept, and
we're in our ninth year on that issue." 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jo-D