People who were addicted to opioids and those who lost loved ones to opioid overdoses offered emotional testimony Monday urging state officials to approve medical marijuana as an alternative painkiller that could help halt Connecticut's deadly opioid epidemic. "My passion and drive to achieve this is fueled by my personal experience battling pharmaceutical drug addiction solely with the use of cannabis," Cody Roberts of Seymour told the state Board of Physicians, which is charged with approving conditions for the state's medical marijuana program. Roberts testified he's lost eight friends in the past year to opioid overdoses, and has been addicted himself. [continues 569 words]
Teens who use a lot of marijuana and alcohol are less likely to have a full time job when they grow up, or to get a college education or get married, according to a new study by University of Connecticut researchers. The study of 1,165 young adults from across the U.S. also found that dependence on pot and booze may also have a "more severe effect on young men" than on young women. "This study found that chronic marijuana use in adolescence was negatively associated with achieving important developmental milestones in young adulthood." - Elizabeth Harari, University of Connecticut researcher. [continues 282 words]
It's understandable why Connecticut medical marijuana advocates are looking to Rhode Island as a model. Rhode Island's already approved homegrown medical pot, authorized three marijuana growing/dispensary operations, picked out who should run them, and has a governor who appears to be fully behind the program. Except there seems to be a weird disconnect between Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee's office and his state's chief medical marijuana advocates about the urgent need to get those state-licensed dispensaries up and running. [continues 566 words]
Seems to be little doubt where University of Connecticut students stand on decriminalization of pot. The UConn Student Government voted 30-1 this week to support Gov. Dannel Malloy's proposal to decriminalize possession of less than one ounce of marijuana. "It is amazing to see that the representatives from such a diverse number of backgrounds could come together to nearly unanimously endorse marijuana reform," was the delighted response from Sam Tracy, a member of the university's student senate and president of the UConn chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. [continues 371 words]
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. [continues 772 words]
Weed's Not Likely To Be Full-On Legal For A Long Time It Might Be Medically Legalized, Though. Far Out. 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. [continues 811 words]
In 10 Years, Weed Could Be Legal -- And Taxed -- In Connecticut Connecticut's raised taxes on millionaires and cigarettes. We've raised the fees you pay on cars, hunting licenses and almost everything else, and it's still not enough to solve the state's budget blues. So why let producers and consumers of what is perhaps the state's third most valuable agricultural crop off without paying a penny in taxes? According to a 2006 study of marijuana production in this nation, the market value of Connecticut-grown grass is at least $32.2 million a year. That's less than greenhouse and nursery crops and the totals for veggies and fruit, but more than shade-grown tobacco brings in. [continues 576 words]
HARTFORD -- Democratic lawmakers made no effort Monday to use their "super majorities" to override Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell's vetoes of bills that included medical use of marijuana and tuition breaks for illegal immigrants. The only time the Democrats managed to muster the votes needed for an override came in May and involved an obscure measure that would give the legislature a say in state requests for waivers from federal social service requirements. Rell used her veto power six times this year, including one rare line-item veto. [continues 478 words]
HARTFORD -- Legislation to allow patients suffering from cancer or other major illnesses to grow and possess small amounts of marijuana for their personal medical use won state House approval Wednesday. House lawmakers voted 89-58 in favor of the bill despite warnings from opponents that it would authorize such patients to break federal drug laws, undermine the anti-drug message to young people and lead to increased abuse of marijuana. But advocates for the bill argued it would remove the threat of arrest and prosecution for seriously ill patients and their caregivers who are already buying and using marijuana to alleviate their symptoms. [continues 682 words]
HARTFORD -- A bill to equalize penalties between crack cocaine and powdered cocaine in Connecticut won final legislative approval Thursday largely because of concerns over the racial imbalance in state prisons. The state Senate voted 21-16 to send the measure to Gov. M. Jodi Rell. A spokesman for Rell said the governor wants to "take a good hard look" at the controversial bill before deciding whether to sign it into law. Advertisement Click to learn more... Supporters of the bill argued that the state's penalties for possession or sale of crack, which are much tougher than for powdered cocaine, has helped create a Connecticut prison system in which 72 percent of inmates are black or Latino. [continues 380 words]
HARTFORD - The huge racial disparities in Connecticut's prisons is one major reason why state House lawmakers voted 93-52 Tuesday to equalize penalties for the sale of crack and powdered cocaine. Advocates of the new legislation argued that, by penalizing the sale of crack much more harshly than the sale of powdered cocaine, state law has helped create a prison system where 72 percent of all inmates are black or Latino. Crack has been called the "drug of choice" of inner-city minorities in part because it is sold in smaller quantities at cheaper prices than powdered cocaine, which tends to be favored by more affluent, white suburban drug users. [continues 305 words]
HARTFORD -- The huge racial disparities in Connecticut's prisons is one major reason why state House lawmakers voted 93-52 Tuesday to equalize state penalties for the sale of crack and powdered cocaine. Advocates of the new legislation argued that, by penalizing the sale of crack much more harshly than the sale of powdered cocaine, state law has helped create a prison system where 72 percent of all inmates are black or Latino. Crack has been called the "drug of choice" of inner-city minorities in part because it is sold in smaller quantities at cheaper prices than powdered cocaine, which tends to be favored by more affluent, white suburban drug users. [continues 305 words]
HARTFORD - Complaints that state law has created an unequal system of penalties for crack and powdered cocaine that discriminates against urban minorities prompted a General Assembly committee to take action Tuesday. The legislature's Judiciary Committee voted 24-13 in favor of a bill to equalize the penalties for possession of the two forms of cocaine. The measure was sent to the state House for action. Under current law, a person caught in possession of one-half of one gram of crack cocaine could be sentenced to a mandatory minimum prison term of five years. That sentence, however, wouldn't apply to someone arrested with powdered cocaine unless they were carrying at least an ounce of the drug. [continues 365 words]
HARTFORD - The doctor and widow of a cancer victim, the head of Hartford Hospital's cancer center and a patient suffering from paralysis and spasms all called on Connecticut lawmakers Tuesday to legalize medical marijuana. "At a time when we were most vulnerable, I had to choose between my livelihood and the welfare of my husband," Dr. Nancy Sheehan of the University of Connecticut said about her efforts to buy marijuana for her late husband. Sheehan said that, until he died in 2002, marijuana helped her husband, Jim, deal more easily with the pain, loss of appetite and energy brought on by colon cancer. "His quality of life was dramatically improved," she said. [continues 451 words]
HARTFORD -- The doctor-widow of a cancer victim, the head of Hartford Hospital's cancer center and a patient suffering from paralysis and spasms all called on Connecticut lawmakers Tuesday to legalize medical marijuana. "At a time when we were most vulnerable, I had to choose between my livelihood and the welfare of my husband," Dr. Nancy Sheehan of the University of Connecticut said about her efforts to buy marijuana for her cancer-victim husband. Sheehan said that, until he died in 2002, marijuana helped her husband Jim deal much more easily with the pain, loss of appetite and energy brought on by his colon cancer. "His quality of life was dramatically improved," she recalled. [continues 456 words]
HARTFORD -- Connecticut's controversial experiment of sending prison inmates to be housed in Virginia facilities ended last weekend with the return of the final 57 state prisoners, Gov. M. Jodi Rell said Tuesday. The return of those inmates from the Greensville Correctional Center means that all 428 Connecticut prisoners sent out of state are now back in this state in time for the holidays. Under former Gov. John G. Rowland, sending Connecticut inmates to out-of-state prisons was a way of easing overcrowding in prisons here and to avoiding costly construction of new facilities. [continues 449 words]
HARTFORD - Connecticut is getting a $100,000 grant from a national anti-crime group for a campaign to ensure that state agencies are focused on prevention policies designed to help kids before they get in trouble with the law. The grant to Connecticut is one of only six being given out to states around the nation by the National Crime Prevention Council for the purpose of promoting prevention programs "as the policy of choice for reducing crime, violence and drug abuse." [continues 434 words]
HARTFORD -- Fred Brandi of Hamden was hired in June as a deputy sheriff despite having a felony drug conviction on his record, New Haven County High Sheriff Frank J. Kinney confirmed Thursday. Kinney said his understanding is that Brandi's conviction happened 18 years ago in Florida. However, according to the Florida Department of Correction, Brandi was convicted on March 5, 1986, and sentenced to three years in prison for attempted drug trafficking and conspiracy. He was released for good behavior in April 1988 after serving two years. [continues 436 words]
HARTFORD - Legislation to ban "racial profiling" by Connecticut police and to require them to report on the race and ethnicity of everyone stopped for traffic violations won final approval Tuesday on a 35-1 state Senate vote. The bill, which now goes to Gov. John G. Rowland for his signature, was prompted by complaints that police in Connecticut and around the nation often stop motorists based solely on the color of their skin. State Sen. Toni N. Harp, D-New Haven, said as an African American she hasn't been stopped by police because of her skin color. But she said she sympathized with other African Americans, such as state Sen. [continues 261 words]
