cannabisnews.com: Medical Marijuana Bill Surprises Some With Support





Medical Marijuana Bill Surprises Some With Support
Posted by CN Staff on May 11, 2003 at 09:55:57 PT
By Susan Haigh, Associated Press Writer
Source: Associated Press
Hartford, Conn. -- For the past two years a bill to fully legalize the medical use of marijuana has been snuffed out in the early days of the legislative session. But this year the proposal finds itself sitting on the House of Representatives calendar, waiting for a possible floor vote. "I'm more shocked than anybody to get it through the committee process," joked Rep. James Abrams, D-Meriden, the main proponent of the legislation. 
Abrams acknowledges he isn't sure whether the bill will be called up for a vote in the House. But he said there appears to be a fair amount of bipartisan support for the bill, which actually builds upon Connecticut's existing medical marijuana law passed in 1981. "If we get a vote, it will be close. It's not going to pass by a wide margin," Abrams said. "It's something that takes some education." A Better Way Foundation, a New Haven-based nonprofit group that supports a shift in Connecticut's drug policy from a public safety issue to a public health issue, has taken on that role. The group, which hired a lobbying firm and started an e-mail campaign, has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday to unveil a list of more than 200 medical doctors across the state who've sent postcards saying they back medical marijuana. Robert Rooks, the foundation's executive director, said the group wants to show lawmakers there is support for the bill within the medical community as well as the general public. "So many people say they support it, but because of the powers that be and who they work for, they can't come out and support it," Rooks said. "It's frustrating." In 1981 Connecticut was one of the first states in the nation to pass a medical marijuana law. Under that law, a doctor is allowed to prescribe the illegal drug to relieve nausea associated with chemotherapy and eye pressure from glaucoma. But the law is unworkable because, under federal law, any physician who prescribes marijuana can be sent to prison and risks having their medical license revoked, Abrams said. That's why a single prescription for marijuana has not been issued since the law passed. Abrams said former state Rep. John G. Rowland, now the Republican governor, and newcomer Moira Lyons, now the Democratic House speaker, both voted for the 1981 bill. The new proposal would allow a doctor to provide a written certification that would qualify a patient to use marijuana for medical purposes. The patient would be able to grow up to three plants for personal use and could use that certificate as a legal defense for having the illegal substance. It would be up to the patient to possess the marijuana seeds. The proposal is similar to laws on the books in Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii and Maine. According to A Better Way Foundation, nine states have "workable" medical marijuana laws. There are 35 states, including Connecticut, that have passed legislation recognizing the drug's medicinal value. The new law would also expand the illnesses that could be treated with medical marijuana. They would include multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease, cachexia (a wasting syndrome typically associated with AIDS), epilepsy, and severe pain and nausea or severe persistent muscle spasms. Advocates claim that marijuana is more effective than prescribed drugs in relieving pain and has fewer side effects. But not all legislators believe there has been outcry for fully legalizing marijuana for medical purposes. During a debate in the legislature's Judiciary Committee in March, state Rep. John Wayne Fox, D-Stamford, noted that no physicians, including oncologists, testified in favor of the legislation. He said the only doctor who voiced support for the bill was an evolutionary biologist from Yale University. "That says something to me, folks, it really does," Fox said. "I don't think, with all due respect, there's evidence to justify it." Other lawmakers said they worry about the state essentially condoning an illegal substance _ one that some consider "a gateway drug" that can lead to use of cocaine or heroin. Jim Battaglio, a spokesman for the Connecticut State Medical Society, said the state group follows the American Medical Association on the issue. The AMA has called for more studies of marijuana for patients and recommends that authorities continue to classify marijuana as a controlled substance pending the outcome of studies. The national doctors' group also called on the National Institutes of Health to research the medical utility of marijuana and develop a smoke-free, inhaled delivery system. Source: Associated PressAuthor: Susan Haigh, Associated Press WriterPublished: May 11, 2003Copyright: 2003 Associated Press Related Articles & Web Sites:A Better Way Foundationhttp://www.abetterwayct.org/Medical Marijuana Information Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htmMedicinal Marijuana Bill Heading For Househttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15805.shtmlProposal To Let Doctors Recommend Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15407.shtmlLawmaker Pushes Medical Marijuana Bill http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15397.shtml 
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on May 21, 2003 at 17:10:58 PT
News Brief -- Associated Press
House Narrowly Defeats Medical Marijuana Bill
 
 
 
 Hartford-AP, May 21, 2003 A bill that would fully legalize marijuana for medical purposes was narrowly defeated in the House of Representatives. The bill died on a 79 to 64 vote. Representative Jim Abrams of Meriden says he was surprised the bill made it as far as the House. He says he'll bring it back for another debate next year. Many lawmakers, both Democrats and Republicans, say they worry about the state making it legal for people to use an illegal substance. They say it sends the wrong message to children. Also, some lawmakers say the legislation contained too many loopholes and would force people to buy the marijuana seeds illegally. But proponents, including one lawmaker whose late husband used marijuana to control the effects of intensive chemotherapy, say the drug is a lifesaver for many terminally ill people. The state passed a medical marijuana bill in 1981, but that law is unworkable because any doctor who prescribes the drug could risk being thrown into prison. 
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Comment #8 posted by paulpeterson on May 16, 2003 at 09:33:38 PT
MARYLAND VETO DEADLINE 1 WEEK AWAY?
We have another week to get that Maryland governor to sign. Since he is a Reaganite, of course, the shrub will probably browbeat him to veto. WH well.
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on May 15, 2003 at 10:01:33 PT
News Brief -- Associated Press
Physicians Back Pot for Medical Use, Legislative Backers Say
 
 
 
Hartford-AP May 15, 2003 Supporters of a bill legalizing marijuana for medical use today presented a list of more than 250 physicians across Connecticut who support the legislation. The bill action in the House of Representatives. The legislation builds on a 1981 Connecticut law that allows doctors to prescribe marijuana to relieve nausea associated with chemotherapy and eye pressure from glaucoma. The existing law, however, doesn't work because federal law forbids doctors from prescribing marijuana. The new proposal would allow a doctor to provide a written certification that would qualify a patient to use marijuana for medical purposes. The patient would be able to grow up to three plants for personal use and could use that certificate as a legal defense for having the illegal substance. 
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on May 11, 2003 at 20:06:54 PT
i420
I've wondered the same thing. I haven't found an article that the Governor has signed anything yet. He must really be getting pressured.
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Comment #5 posted by i420 on May 11, 2003 at 19:48:46 PT
Maryland...
Whatever happened to Maryland???
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Comment #4 posted by Virgil on May 11, 2003 at 14:17:56 PT
How long can the hoax continue?
You would think that by the 2004 elections GWP will be legal medicine in Canada and most of the EU countries. How long can the hoax of no medical value live when governments will give coverage or refunds as Nol says for the Netherlands. International law will allow these medicines for transport into this country. Are the guards going to have to take up checking medical records. What happens when liberated cannabis meets the halls of the State Legislatures and the prohibitionist chant no medical value Tourist with legal rights to clinical cannabis will be coming. The prohibitionist are running out of road and it will be the cliff that gets them when real world medicine comes to Police States of America.
Have you ever had half thoughts? I wonder how many dollar bills it takes to make an ounce. Three sheets of paper and an envelop would pass for an ounce of cannabis. You might expect an ounce to be 28 grams with a bag and all. Of course, 26 grams is more like it or you might get some discarded seeds and get whatever. But I can not complete the thought because now I am concerned about how many dollars bills are in an ounce. My guess would be that a dollar bill is 12 square inches and a piece of paper is say 96 square inches so that would be 8 bills and say 4 pieces of paper to an ounce – that makes 32 dollar bills. So a person can buy a quarter bag for an ounce of dollar bills. So maybe there are forty dollar bills to the ounce, it might get you a full 7 grams. I feel comfortable with the idea that cannabis is worth 4 times its weight in dollar bills. Look at the way people with plenty of money already have wars launched for their benefit and to think cannabis is more valuable than money is a scary thought.There are millions signed on to speak against cannabis prohibition until we have our Logical Conclusion or death. It is a perversion that has taken control of our country. A perverted power has subverted the people and their Constitution. People should be shouting for the Impeachment of Busch. The next decent president will have to speak to the issue of restoring the Constitution. The constitution is no longer the law of the land and the forces that control its enforcement, interpretation, and laws that outline policy are all in control of the subversive forces or plutocracy or the MegaComplex resulting from the combined wishes of the Military Industrial, petroleum and pill companies. The fact that a Democrat has not yet spoken to the issue of the people Constitution is a sad fact.I think the retiring of people that are now in their 50’s with computer savvy will be the big part of the wave of change. It will take a tidal wave of people to change it so that two parties can never dominate which gets his first cannot bring this ruin of freedom upon our citizens again. Canada has already attained a majority that would really be for regulation of cannabis. The misery caused by ignoring the Logical Conclusion will be revealing of US influence in stopping the Majority’s will. Stopping the people’s will throws on the spotlight. It ain’t a pretty scene. Anyway, the retiring boomers will join the wave. Eventually the people will have to bring a new philosophy back to government and now it is the student who has become the teacher and Canada’s people will be before us in restoring the people principle. They have system that does not allow two parties to control everything that brings redistricting after each party takes its turn of going first and having its way. We have a problem with a president tramping the Constitution. No one in the take-a-turn parties is effective in presenting a face to the critical issue at hand. Teach the children the Constitution. All the children that get left behind should receive an hour of instruction on the Constitution every 90 days. Now there is a law that won’t make it out of committee.Actually, I think things can change rather fast. I look forward to the opinions coming out of the Supreme Court and see how someone defends the prohibition of cannabis as worthy of denial of freedom under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I would not want to try it on an intellectual effort. People would think a Supreme Court judge mad if he used Cannabis is a dangerous drug in a premise which should tell us something of Pee Walters. The government’s stonewall approach toward defying the MMJ program in Canada leaves them with a sorry state of affairs as this is the year GW will start selling legal prescription grade cannabis products. No viable MMJ program has turned the stonewall approach into a big circular wall with two sides instead of one. Shortly there will be another hole in the stonewall to let traffic go through. On the road of Problems we really need to get to some big problems and after all cannabis should not be four times more valuable than money. The prohibitionist formula of add-twist and then stand it on its head is used in their reasoning but it should not happen in the real word. Cannabis should not be worth more than money and it should not be standing on its head in the real world. Fiction has become reality and the reality of freedom is now fiction.The best thing for dealing with the insanity is a good buzz. Cannabis is the best medicine. The best medicine and free if freed. Cannabis freedom is more valuable than we thought. Oh, the power of reason. Oh, the power of compassion. Oh, the power of freedom. All against a hoax. We will soon have a bigger choir. Let's be singing when they get here. FREE CANNABIS FOR EVERYONE
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Comment #3 posted by observer on May 11, 2003 at 11:55:58 PT
Bogus Concern and Bogus Reporting, Again
''any physician who prescribes marijuana can be sent to prison ''Aw! Isn't that touching concern for the poor, downtrodden doctors? (Pause to wipe away tears.) Hey ... anyone notice that after repeatedly stressing "LEGALIZATION" that the nice and intelligent author of this little article forgot (it was by accident, of course) to ever mention that cannabis users are subject to ARREST and JAIL?Tell me, why do you think that "little detail" just accidently manages to slip their minds so often? Reading the papers, you might never know that pot smokers are hauled off to jail, have theor property stolen by the government, and have their kids taken from them, and are left to rot in prison while murderers and rapists skate?Why is it they can't mention the jailing of pot users? Isn't that fact far more salient than the hypothetical jailing of docs for something that never happens (i.e. no doc writes prescriptions for pot, and no doc is jailed for prescribing pot, while 700,000 people ARE hauled off to jail every year just for possessing a little pot). Anyone else see the disconnect there? Folks, let's rub their noses in their policy of jailing potheads. Let's do this precisely because of the reasons that prohibitions want not to remind people of the jailing of potheads. Prohibitionists kick up every excuse and pretext in the book, and are masters at disguising their intent to jail you for smoking pot. People, please expose this! 
breaking pot news, 24/7
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Comment #2 posted by afterburner on May 11, 2003 at 11:11:17 PT:
Hey! 35 States Out of 50: That's a Majority!
How long will it take for the federal government to come down off its high horse and admit the obvious: that the American public has a right to medical cannabis?We could even pass a constitutional amendment with this much state support, if we could get the federal Congress to pass a bill, but we don't need a constitutional amendment to repeal the illegal prohibition of medicine, which oversteps federal authority.ego transcendence follows ego destruction, heart by heart, vote by vote, until eventually there is no problem.
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Comment #1 posted by Sam Adams on May 11, 2003 at 10:04:46 PT
Thanks, AP
"Upon further consideration, the AMA was consulted, and being the good bunch of rich fellows that they are, decided that we very much need the marijuana laws to keep the underclass under control"
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