Pubdate: Tue, 19 Jun 2012
Source: News-Times, The (Danbury, CT)
Copyright: 2012 The News-Times
Contact:  http://www.newstimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/637
Author: Robert Miller

MEDICAL MARIJUANA BECOMES LEGAL IN OCTOBER

In October, a certain set of people -- those with chronic illnesses, 
such as multiple sclerosis or Crohn's disease, or cancer patients 
suffering from the debilitating effects of chemotherapy -- can become 
certified, and legal, smokers of marijuana.

"That part of the law will be in place," William Rubenstein, state 
commissioner of the Department of Consumer Protection, said in a 
recent interview.

Where they get that marijuana will be, for the near future, up to them.

The state's system of growing, distributing and selling medical 
marijuana -- approved by the General Assembly last month and signed 
into law by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on June 1 -- will be a complicated business.

The regulations that will govern how growers in the state raise 
marijuana and how licensed pharmacists dispense it have yet to be written.

When they are, they'll have to pass muster at a public hearing and 
win the approval of the General Assembly's Legislative Review Committee.

"That can take a while," observed state Rep. Robert Godfrey of 
Danbury, who voted for the medical marijuana bill.

"We hope to have the entire law up and running sometime in 2013," 
Rubenstein said.

When that happens, the state will join 16 others in what is, in 
effect, both a medical and a social experiment -- whether Connecticut 
can successfully manage a system for the legal sale of marijuana, 
which the federal government still lists as an illegal drug.

Allen St. Pierre, executive director of NORML -- the National 
Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws -- said there have only been 
federal raids in states where there has been blatant abuse and 
disregard of state regulations, notably California.

"Generally speaking," St. Pierre said, "where people have been 
compliant, there hasn't been a problem."

Many doctors now see marijuana as an acceptable product to prescribe 
in the right situations.

"There are always new treatments, new modalities coming along," said 
Dr. Patrick Broderick, chairman of emergency medicine at Danbury 
Hospital and president of the Western Connecticut Medical Group.

"You don't want to be way out ahead of everybody, but you want to be 
able to help your patients. If we have another tool to help patients, 
that's a good thing," Broderick said.

Dr. Robert Kloss, an oncologist at the Praxair Cancer Center at 
Danbury Hospital and a doctor who works in hospice and palliative 
care, said patients are well-informed of what's happening in the 
other states where medical marijuana is legal, thanks to the Internet 
and a variety of social networks.

"People are very informed," Kloss said.

And, he said, there's strong anecdotal evidence -- if not rock-solid, 
double-blind medical studies -- that people get relief from smoking marijuana.

Kloss said people on chemotherapy use it to reduce nausea and as an 
appetite enhancer; people with colitis, inflammatory bowel disease 
and Crohn's disease have reported a improvement in bowel function 
through smoking marijuana; people with multiple sclerosis say 
marijuana can control their tremors.

"There are receptors in the brain that are affected by cannabinoids," 
he said of the chemical compounds in cannabis (marijuana). "And these 
chemical agents do have beneficial effects."

They may include anti-inflammatory effects and effects on the immune 
system, Kloss said.

"There are studies in mice that show it may have an effect in cancer 
cell suppression," he explained.

Dr. Peter Rostenberg, an internist and family doctor in New 
Fairfield, said he has treated people with a serious addiction to 
marijuana and knows its effects.

But Rostenberg said he could see himself prescribing medical 
marijuana for some of his patients.

"If it's strictly regulated, it will be a benefit," he said.

The first laws allowing medical use of marijuana were passed in 1996 
in California, St. Pierre of NORML said. Canada approved medical 
marijuana use in 2001.

Four states in New England now allow its use -- Connecticut, Rhode 
Island, Maine and Vermont.

St. Pierre said there has never been a study that shows the medical 
use of marijuana increases the number of auto accidents, workplace 
accidents or absenteeism at work.

"We've had a 15-year-long social experiment and nothing has 
happened," St. Pierre said. "The sun still rises in the east and sets 
in the west. The tides turn twice a day. Nothing has changed."

Some people see the legalization of marijuana as a business opportunity.

Bob Heffernan, executive director of the Connecticut Nursery and 
Landscape Association, said he knows several growers in the state who 
have expressed an interest in growing marijuana under the state law.

That law stipulates that there can be no fewer than three, but no 
more than 10, growers in the state.

"I've had a lot of calls about it," Heffernan said.

That is because when marijuana is grown for the medical market, it 
will have to be grown in a greenhouse under controlled conditions.

The state's nursery industry -- which now accounts for half of the 
state's agriculture -- grows a lot of plants in greenhouses.

"We'd be the logical choice," he said.

Heffernan said no one has experience in growing marijuana legally in 
the state up to this point.

"All we can go on is the experience of other states," he said.

That experience, Heffernan noted, has shown it to be a lucrative business.

Godfrey said he once spoke to Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer about 
medical marijuana.

"They're a farming state," he said. "Marijuana is a big part of their 
industry."

Likewise, Peter D'Aprile, owner of the English Apothecary in Bethel, 
said he is definitely interested in the program.

"I just got a call from someone working in a hospice about this," 
D'Aprile said about the availability of medical marijuana.

"It will help people that need help, and it will give me a new 
revenue stream," he said. "For me, it's a win-win situation."

On the other hand, pharmacist Jim Cangelosi, owner of the Brookfield 
Pharmacy, said as long as it's illegal under federal law, he'll steer 
clear of becoming a dispenser.

"I wouldn't want to make a big investment, then have the feds shut me 
down," Cangelosi said. "I don't run my business dealing with gray areas.

"This is a gray area."
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