Pubdate: Sat, 05 May 2012
Source: Connecticut Post (Bridgeport, CT)
Copyright: 2012 MediaNews Group, Inc
Contact: http://www.ctpost.com/feedback/
Website: http://www.ctpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/574
Author: Ken Dixon

SENATE OKS MEDICAL POT BILL; MALLOY TO SIGN IT

HARTFORD -- The Connecticut Senate granted final approval early
Saturday to a bill that would allow the use of medical marijuana and
includes strict regulations for the cultivation and distribution in an
attempt to avoid problems other states have run into when legalizing
the plant for medical use.

The measure passed the state's Senate 21-to-13 after nearly 10 hours
of debate. It now goes to Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who said
in a statement that he plans to sign the bill into law, as he believes
it would "avoid the problems encountered in some other states."

The legislation has already been passed by the House of
Representatives.

The law would make Connecticut the 17th state in the nation to allow
the medicinal use of marijuana by people with chronic ailments.

Supporters of the bill said Connecticut's legislation would become a
model for the nation, avoiding the pitfalls that early adopters of
medical marijuana, such as California and Colorado, have experienced
with wider-than-anticipated use of the drug.

"I'm feeling rather proud of the fact that many people who have
reviewed this bill are very complimentary about it and said that it
was the best that they've seen on the subject of medical marijuana,"
said Sen. Eric Coleman, D-Bloomfield.

Currently, 16 states and the District of Columbia have laws
authorizing the use of medical marijuana.

"Everything from California back is trying to get away from chaos,"
said Allen St. Pierre, the executive director of the National
Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws.

The bill would allow the state Department of Consumer Protection to
set up as many as 10 secure indoor cultivation and distribution
networks for people who are certified by doctors and pay a $25 fee.

Growers would have to pay $25,000 license fees and show a substantial
ability to capitalize secure, indoor growing facilities. Pharmacists
would have to be associated with the dispensary network to oversee
distribution of the plant's dried flowers, which are often smoked or
vaporized for inhalation.

"Some patients found that ingesting marijuana affords them the best
relief in avoiding discomfort," said Coleman, co-chairman of the
Judiciary Committee, who introduced the legislation at 4:45 p.m.

"I am certainly convinced that the people who appeared before the
committee and testified very credibly deserve some kind of relief and
that marijuana would provide that relief," Coleman said. "I would say
California is the best example of how not to do it."

Early in the debate, Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield, said he would
support the bill, indicating an eventual bipartisan vote. Kissel said
that since last year's bill to turn possession of a half-ounce of
marijuana to an infraction rather than a criminal offense, he doubts
that its medical use would lead to an underground resale market.

The bill would limit access to the drug only to patients with cancer,
glaucoma, HIV, AIDS, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, spinal
cord injuries, epilepsy, malnutrition, wasting syndrome, Crohn's
disease and post traumatic stress disorder.

In the future, the Department of Consumer Protection and a panel of
doctors, would be able to expand the list of diseases eligible for the
drug.

The bill, which Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said he would sign, would reduce
the classification of marijuana from a Schedule 1 drug to Schedule 2.
Other Northeastern states that have similar laws include New Jersey,
Rhode Island, Vermont and Maine.

The legislation was expected to pass over a last-ditch attempt by Sen.
Antonietta Boucher, R-Wilton, to discourage the 36-member chamber from
confirming last week's 99-52 House vote.

"This puts Connecticut in direct conflict with the federal Department
of Justice," said Boucher, a longtime opponent of the legislation, who
took the floor at 5:20 p.m. and was still arguing against the bill
about seven hours later.

"It is medically unnecessary and untrue that it is helpful medicine,"
she said. "We have to stop the march toward the legalization of drugs."

Boucher had 48 amendments filed on the legislation in an attempt to
change the bill or possibly kill it in the waning days of the General
Assembly session that ends at 12:01 a.m. on May 10. Her first
amendment would limit the use of marijuana to patients diagnosed as
terminally ill. It failed 23-11. By early Saturday, four other
amendments failed by similar margins.

During the first few hours of the debate, as Boucher settled into her
major arguments against the bill, only a handful of lawmakers sat in
the circle of 36 Senate seats. The number in attendance ranged from
six to eight.

She didn't ask a question of Coleman about the legislation until her
third hour of criticism against the bill. "We have different views on
the use of marijuana for medical purposes," Coleman said in response
to Boucher.

Many of the senators took time out from Boucher's initial monologue to
eat dinner in their adjacent caucus rooms and attend a reception for
lawmakers down the hall from the third-floor Senate chamber, sponsored
by the Connecticut Beer Wholesalers Association.
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