Pubdate: Sun, 23 Sep 2012
Source: Norwich Bulletin (CT)
Copyright: 2012 GateHouse Media, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.norwichbulletin.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2206
Author: Alison Shea

MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW TAKES EFFECT NEXT WEEK

Advocates say access still months away

Despite a change in the law coming next week to allow the medicinal
use of marijuana by people who suffer from specific debilitating
conditions, patients and advocates say it could be months before they
have safe, legal access to the drug.

The state Legislature voted last spring to create a registration and
oversight system within the Department of Consumer Protection for
medical marijuana use. The bill takes effect Oct. 1, a week from
today. That day, the department wrote on its website, physicians will
be able to begin certifying their patients, though a secure state
registration system, as eligible to receive medicinal-grade marijuana
grown by state-licensed pharmacists.

The department's website also shows the state hasn't yet made
available application forms for individual pharmacists to build and
maintain secure indoor growing facilities for medical marijuana.

Changing the law "is a good first step for patients already using it
for those debilitating conditions, but it's just the first step in the
process," said Erik Williams, the executive director of Connecticut's
chapter of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws. Williams said it would be a few months before patients
can get marijuana through the state dispensary system, which limits
the number of dispensaries statewide to 10.

Kathy O'Callaghan, 53, of Scotland, has used marijuana to treat her
multiple sclerosis since about 1994. The drug helps with her balance
issues and severe pain, she said.

"I've waited so long already. It will happen when it happens,"
O'Callaghan said. "I just want a safe place to buy it, and to know
that it is safe to ingest in one way or another."

Once she's working with pharmacists instead of street dealers,
O'Callaghan said she hopes edible forms will be available so she
doesn't have to smoke it.

Her worries, she said, include that the medical-grade drug might be
less effective than what's peddled on the streets, and that the
varieties grown by the legally mandated three to 10 growers might not
include the one she uses to focus the euphoric effects on her body,
and not her mind.

"I don't like to use the term 'high,' because that's not what I'm
looking for," she said. "I just want my body to feel better."

Connecticut's new marijuana law allows the medicinal use of marijuana
for Connecticut residents 18 or older suffering from cancer, glaucoma,
HIV/AIDS, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries,
epilepsy, Crohn's Disease, post-traumatic stress or cachexia (wasting
syndrome). It limits the drug's use in public places and in moving
vehicles, and around children and teens.

Seventeen other states, including Rhode Island, Vermont and New
Jersey, also permit the medicinal use of marijuana. Connecticut's
laws, in naming specific ailments and limiting the place of use and
number of dispensing pharmacists, are stricter than most, Williams
said.
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