cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Bill Opponents Warn Against Legalization





Marijuana Bill Opponents Warn Against Legalization
Posted by CN Staff on March 18, 2004 at 07:26:19 PT
By Tobin A. Coleman, Staff Writer
Source: Stamford Advocate
Hartford -- Legalizing medical use of marijuana is a "smokescreen" for backdoor efforts to legalize pot for everyday use, claim opponents of a state House bill to allow marijuana for medical purposes."It is the wrong direction and the wrong message, and I will work very, very vigorously to oppose this on the floor of the House, said Republican state Rep. Antonietta "Toni" Boucher, who represents Wilton and eastern Norwalk.
Lower Fairfield County opponents of legalization spearheaded a state Capitol news conference yesterday decrying Monday's passage by the Judiciary Committee of a bill that would allow doctors to certify certain patients to use marijuana.Speakers included a Norwalk High School student, a Norwalk couple who lost their son to a drug overdose, state representatives from Norwalk, Greenwich and Durham, and representatives of organizations opposed to the bill.The bill, approved 24-25 in committee, would allow doctors to give a patient a certificate saying he or she needs marijuana for medical reasons. Patients or their caregivers would be permitted to grow up to five plants to use for medical purposes only, to be used in a private setting.Proponents have said the drug can relieve pain, relieve nausea from chemotherapy, treat glaucoma, slow some of the wasting associated with AIDS and help patients with multiple sclerosis.The bill's sponsor, state Rep. James Abrams, D-Meriden, said the measure is not meant to legalize marijuana for recreational use. Its purpose is to keep sick people and their doctors out of jail, he said.Connecticut passed a bill allowing medical marijuana use in 1981. But because marijuana possession and distribution is against federal law, no prescriptions have been issued in Connecticut. Doctors fear they will be brought up on charges, Abrams said.When a similar measure was defeated in the House after 21- 1/2 hours of floor debate last year, the House fell silent as state Rep. Penny Bacchiochi, R-Somers, related the story of her late husband's battle with terminal bone cancer. An operation to remove a tumor left him a paraplegic. Chemotherapy made him nauseated. A doctor recommended marijuana for relief."It worked wonders. And it gave him back a quality of life," Bacchiochi said.But yesterday, opponents said passing the bill would be the first step on a slippery slope leading to the legalization of marijuana and a mixed message to young people about drug use."While the majority of abuse consists of alcohol and tobacco, marijuana still plays a dangerous role," said Maxwell Barrand, 15, a sophomore at Norwalk High School. "On a daily basis, I see fellow students with drugs or paraphernalia, even boasting to one another, even in the middle of class, about their new pipe. All this goes on in the classroom despite the fact that marijuana is illegal."Maxwell said if the bill is passed, "marijuana will become justified in their minds, and all hesitation to use it will end."Ginger and Larry Katz of Norwalk, co-founders of the anti-drug organization The Courage to Speak, said their son, Ian, who died of a heroin overdose in 1996, began his drug use "with a little pot -- a sip of beer and a little weed." Passing the bill would suggest to young people that marijuana use is OK, leading to use of stronger drugs, they said.State Rep. Claudia "Dolly" Powers, R-Greenwich, said proponents of legalization have not seriously looked at alternatives such as Marinol, a drug that contains the active ingredients of marijuana in a medically approved pill form."We don't need to do this," Powers said. "There are other ways to handle this, and I will continue to vote in the negative."State Rep. Robert Duff, D-Norwalk, and Westport Republican state Sen. Judith Freedman, who represents eastern New Canaan, Wilton and other Fairfield County towns, could not attend the news conference but voiced their opposition to the bill."I think there are some very bad things in the bill," Freedman said in a telephone interview. "It lets them grow their own marijuana. I think that's a very bad message to send to students right now."Duff said in an interview, "Nobody ever starts by being a heroin addict, everyone always starts at marijuana. What message do we send to young people about (illegal) drugs? If you do it for medical purposes it's OK?"Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington have laws protecting patients who use medical marijuana on the recommendation of their doctor, according to A Better Way Foundation, a New Haven-based group that is lobbying in favor of the bill.State Rep. Lawrence Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk, said the proposal has practical problems, regardless of one's belief about whether marijuana is effective in relieving symptoms other drugs cannot."It is against state and federal law to get that first seed," Cafero said, referring to the bill's language that says the source of the marijuana would be home cultivation. "So we are saying, in order to avail yourself of this law, you have to break the law."The bill is on the House calendar and is likely to be referred to the Public Health Committee. Complete Title: Medical Marijuana Bill Opponents Warn Against LegalizationSource: Stamford Advocate, The (CT)Author: Tobin A. Coleman, Staff WriterPublished: March 18, 2004Copyright: 2004 Southern Connecticut Newspaper, Inc.Contact: letters.advocate scni.comWebsite: http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Medical Marijuana Information Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htmCommittee Approves Medical Marijuana Billhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18506.shtmlMarijuana Proposal Revivedhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18430.shtmlPhysicians Testify in Support of MMJ Legislation http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18425.shtml
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Comment #4 posted by mayan on March 18, 2004 at 17:05:27 PT
Regurgitated Lies
It's actually kind of humorous reading these old, regurgitated prohibitionist lies that have long since been disproven. They really should come up with something new and factual...oh wait, there is nothing factual that they can use to bash medical cannabis! The sad part is that a few people still believe these tired old lies. We have already won the battle for the minds of mainstream Americans as over 80% favor a sick individuals right to use medicinal cannabis. Now we are finally winning over many politicians and that is why we are seeing the prohibitionists spewing their innacurate rhetoric more frequently and louder than ever. They are truly scared to death that their views will be officially disproven if medical cannabis is recognized. We will take names and kick ass.
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Comment #3 posted by Virgil on March 18, 2004 at 10:20:31 PT
More bullshit
Legalizing medical use of marijuana is a "smokescreen" for backdoor efforts to legalize pot for everyday useAbsolute bullshit. Medical Miracleplant laws are exactly what they are. People calling for the Logical Conclusion call for legalization and regulation flat out. What the reformers do do, is ask people to look at the hate and the lies and the pain that the government has inflicted on us all with the MMJ prohibition and the SOL. There are no clandestine meetings that are devious in the call for clinical cannabis and proper research by the corrupted NIH and its $28 billion annual budget on what will be a new era of safe and effective cannabinoids for what ails us all. This is total bullshit as their is no smokescreen from the reformers that call for honesty in the issues instead of lies, bullshit, and obfuscation. This bullshit hides the fact that the prohibitionist use the desire to continue prohibition by calling on defending the outer wall. They are using their love of prohibition to stop science and medicine and continue pain. This bullshit lies when it says reformers are using MMJ for legalization when it is the incarcerating, evil-doing, freedom-robbing, government-corrupting, priority bending assholes a.k.a prohibtionists, that want to use warped reasoning justifying recreational prohibition to smokescreen continued medical prohibition. Like always everything from a prohibitionist is upside down.
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Comment #2 posted by kaptinemo on March 18, 2004 at 08:51:07 PT:
I feel sorry for this kid
*"While the majority of abuse consists of alcohol and tobacco, marijuana still plays a dangerous role," said Maxwell Barrand, 15, a sophomore at Norwalk High School. "On a daily basis, I see fellow students with drugs or paraphernalia, even boasting to one another, even in the middle of class, about their new pipe. All this goes on in the classroom despite the fact that marijuana is illegal."Maxwell said if the bill is passed, "marijuana will become justified in their minds, and all hesitation to use it will end."*I wonder if he received a doggy treat for his efforts? "Positive reinforcement" and all that, you know...I had more sense when I was his age, to swallow anything the authorities put in front of me uncritically without considering the source and its' motives; Watergate and Viet Nam made bloody sure of that. This is but more sad proof of the failures of public schools to teach kids to *think* instead of accurately regurgitate rote informaton, no matter how incorrect.
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Comment #1 posted by Sam Adams on March 18, 2004 at 08:26:58 PT
Nice!
I know the Judiciary committee was a big hurdle in CT, congrats to those guys!This paper is full of crap. People in Fairfield county, CT, would be massively in favor of medical MJ, probably by 85-95%. Drug overdoses...how can that possibly be related to sick and dying people using a little herb. Puh-leese...
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