Years of debate and fine-tuning in the state legislature over allowing medical marijuana still have not settled all the questions Connecticut doctors have about medical marijuana. Is it, as some contend, a humane solution for patients who can't get relief from other medicines, or a reckless move toward something that hasn't been fully tested scientifically? The Connecticut State Medical Society, which has a membership of about 7,000 practicing and training physicians, opposed the bill. "On one hand, we're asked to be scientific and use evidence-based medicine," said Dr. Michael Krinsky, the medical society's president. "On the other hand, we're being legislated to by people who don't practice medicine, telling us this is fine to do, based on rather flimsy evidence." [continues 889 words]
Bill revives vetoed proposal from 2007 The state's lawmakers are again taking on the divisive issue of medical marijuana. The same bill that would allow the medicinal use of marijuana that Gov. Jodi M. Rell vetoed in 2007 is going through the legislative process this year. This time, it not only has the support of the current governor, Dannel P. Malloy, but it comes out of his office. The bill is co-sponsored by the four top Democratic leaders in the legislature, Sen. Donald E. Williams, Sen. Martin Looney, Rep. Christopher G. Donovan and Rep. Brendan Sharkey. [continues 575 words]
Plan To Make Food Containing It Illegal Draws Protest MIDDLETOWN -- Earlier this week, a group of Wesleyan University students handed out pretzels to passersby in front of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration office in Hartford. Though tasty and nutritious, those "hemp seed pretzels" could soon become a controlled substance in the same category as marijuana and heroin, should a DEA proposal go through as planned, said student Booth Haley. According to the proposal, any business or individual in possession of a hemp food product that bears even trace amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, after Feb. 6 would be in violation of laws that prohibit possession of a "schedule I controlled substance," a classification that includes marijuana and heroin. THC is the chemical that gives marijuana its hallucinatory effects. [continues 394 words]
