NO APPROVAL FOR MEDICAL POT BILL

The war on drugs battled its way to the state Legislature during the
session just ended, where lawmakers debated a bill to legalize
marijuana for medical use.

Ultimately, the bill failed, not on its merits but because of
legislative wrangling that prevented it from reaching the state Senate
floor during this year's session.

The medical marijuana bill would allow residents to grow marijuana in
their homes for personal use, provided they receive a doctor's
prescription for the drug.

The bill won approval from the Judiciary, Appropriations and Public
Health committees, passed the House of Representatives and was sent to
the Finance Committee for further review.

The Finance Committee approved it before sending it back to the House
just in time to send it to the Senate before the session ended.
However, House leaders failed to send it to the Senate before the
session closed, killing it for this year's session. Proponents can
raise it again during next year's session.

State Rep. James Abrams, a Meriden Democrat, co-sponsored the bill and
has fought to legalize medical marijuana for the last five years. Last
year, his bill failed on the House floor by 12 votes.

People with cancer, multiple sclerosis, AIDS and other terminal
illnesses sometimes use marijuana to ease pain, control nausea and
increase appetite.

The medical marijuana bill would make it legal for such patients to
possess and cultivate up to five plants in their home. Purchasing or
selling the drug would remain illegal, even for the patients.

Opponents of the bill fear it is a first step in legalizing marijuana
altogether. Abrams said that is not his intention.

"I'm not in favor of legalizing marijuana," he said, which is why his
bill does not legalize purchasing the drug. "We'd be legalizing
behavior we don't want to legalize," Abrams said.

Robert Rooks is executive director of the non-profit organization A
Better Way, a group dedicated to reviewing drug policies in
Connecticut. Rooks joined Abrams' effort two years ago.

"There are a large contingent of folks in Connecticut that are using
marijuana for medical purposes," Rooks said. "They should no longer
have to worry about potential repercussions from state
government."

Abrams said the existing use of marijuana by terminally ill patients
allowed him to avoid the "first seed" issue in his bill the
question of where patients would obtain marijuana.

He and Rooks said those who need it already have it. "We'll really be
legalizing what is ongoing behavior," he said.

Amann Disagrees

House Majority Leader James Amann, a Milford Democrat who opposed the
bill, said it wasn't really political wrangling that led to the bill's
demise this session but rather a matter of process.

"If I didn't want it heard or debated, it would not have made it that
far," Amann said. "The reality is that the bill had to go [back] to
Finance. That's part of the process."

Amann said that when the bill came before legislators on its last
round, wording had been added that had financial implications.

"If it cost money, it has to go to finance," Amann said. "We did
exactly what should have been done."

Amann said he opposed the bill because the American Cancer Society and
American Medical Association do not support the medical use of marijuana.

"There are still just too many questions," Amann said.

Bridgeport state Rep. Jacqueline M. Cocco opposed the medical
marijuana bill. The Democrat said she might have supported a similar
bill when she first entered the Legislature 18 years ago, but better
pain control medicine for patients has since been developed.

"This would lead people to believe marijuana is better than some of
the other alternatives, and I don't think that's true," Cocco, a
former nurse, said of the legislation.

A Gateway Drug

Opponents to legalizing medical marijuana said marijuana is a
"gateway" drug that often leads to the use of cocaine and heroin.

The federal government categorizes marijuana as a schedule 1 drug,
meaning it cannot be sold by prescription. Cocaine, by comparison, is
a schedule 2 drug that doctors can prescribe.

Ginger Katz, a Norwalk woman whose son Ian died of a drug overdose,
formed the Courage to Speak Foundation and travels the country warning
children of the dangers of drug use.

She said she opposes medical marijuana legislation because it will
suggest to children that smoking marijuana is okay.

"Marijuana isn't medicine - it's that simple," Katz said. "Medical
marijuana is the beginning of legalizing it. The message to children
is really loud and clear...It definitely sends a message to kids that
it's okay to use."

Katz said there are several existing drugs already available by
prescription that serve the same purpose as marijuana in relieving
symptoms.

State Rep. Al Adinolfi, a Cheshire Republican, said he voted against
the bill.

"It is too difficult to control and too easy to abuse," he said. "I
sympathize with it, but there are plenty of drugs available that
address the same issues."

Trumbull state Rep. T.R. Rowe, a Republican, said the American Medical
Association, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the American
Cancer Society and other medical groups have said there is no medical
benefit to smoking marijuana.

Marijuana derivatives are available in pill and liquid form to help
patients combat nausea and increase their appetite, Rowe said.

According to Abrams and Rooks, however, patients who smoke marijuana
told them that the derivative medicines do not work as well.

Abrams said the lack of scientific evidence supporting those claims is
not enough to ignore them.

"One reason there's no scientific evidence is that the government
won't fund any studies," he said. "There is tons of anecdotal evidence."

Rooks said he was troubled by efforts to remove any potential medicine
from terminally ill patients.

"There are other drugs that do work," he said. "But we would like
marijuana to be one of the options."

State Rep. Richard Belden, a Shelton Republican, said he supports the
bill because of evidence it helps people with various life-threatening
and debilitating conditions.

Belden said he is "frustrated" by the federal government's double
standard when it comes to prescription drugs. If the government puts
tight regulations on marijuana, then it should have the same
regulations on strong painkillers such as Oxycontin, he said.

"I wish the federal government would allow physicians to prescribe
marijuana just as they are allowed to prescribe these painkillers,"
Belden said.

State Rep. Jack Stone, a Fairfield Republican, disagrees with making
marijuana an option. He voted against the bill.

A ranking member of the Public Safety Committee, Stone said he
supports law enforcement officials who worry the medical marijuana
bill will lead to increased marijuana use among non-patients

"The law enforcement community is strongly opposed to the bill," Stone
said. "The big issue is how do they control it, and how do they make
sure it's being used for what it was intended."