Pubdate: Mon, 12 Mar 2012
Source: Day, The (New London,CT)
Copyright: 2012 The Day Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.theday.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/293

OK MEDICAL MARIJUANA

It would be foolish and arguably inhumane to discount the steady 
stream of witnesses who come before the Connecticut legislature every 
year and testify, at some legal risk, that for them only the use of 
marijuana provides relief from various debilitating diseases without 
the unbearable side effects of medically prescribed drugs.

The Connecticut State Medical Society sees things differently. It 
continues to oppose state legalization for medical use. This 
naturally-growing plant lacks the research and federal approval that 
pharmaceutical-company drugs receive only after extensive clinical 
trials to determine efficacy and side effects. Marijuana does not 
have, in medical verbiage, "a reliable and reproducible dose."

But given the continuing and consistent testimony of the relief 
marijuana can provide for many, allowing them to live more active 
lives, we opt for compassion over medicinal conclusiveness and urge 
the legislature to approve the medical marijuana law and Gov. Dannel 
P. Malloy to sign it.

What the state cannot afford is a California-type model, with rules 
written so loosely that the drug can be prescribed for seemingly 
anything and everything and easily obtained in a near de facto 
legalization. Whether it makes sense to legalize, regulate and tax 
marijuana for recreational use is a debate for another time. Backdoor 
legalization should not come in the form of medical marijuana and it 
appears the legislature has been careful to assure that will not happen.

Only pharmacists could dispense marijuana for medical use and it 
would require a certificate from a physician. The bill spells out the 
permitted medical uses, including for the side effects of cancer 
treatment, glaucoma, HIV or AIDS, Parkinson's disease, multiple 
sclerosis, Crohn's disease, post-traumatic and nervous system disorders.

Erik Williams, executive director of the Connecticut chapter of 
NORML, a group that has pushed for medical marijuana laws across the 
country, called the Connecticut proposal "the single best-written 
legislation" in the country. (True, NORML would prefer outright 
legalization, but it appears to recognize that poorly written medical 
marijuana laws that result in abuse only undermine future 
legalization efforts.)

Use of the drug remains a federal crime, but the Obama administration 
has signaled it is not interested in cracking down on legitimate 
medical use approved by states. We would not expect Republicans, the 
party of state rights, to act any differently in the White House.

Approve the bill.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom