DEMOCRACY LOSES OUT ON MARIJUANA VOTE

We Americans like to think of ourselves as living in a representative
democracy, where we elect leaders who vote to determine the course of our
laws and society. When a vote succeeds, we believe, then that bill is
passed. This is not always the case. In fact, in the hallowed halls of the
state capitol, democracy is sometimes hard to find.

Take the medical marijuana bill that Rep. James Abrams (D-83) reintroduced
this year, after it failed in the House by 12 votes in 2003. The bill would
allow patients suffering from such diseases as cancer, AIDS and multiple
sclerosis to cultivate marijuana legally for medicinal purposes.

The drug reportedly eases pain, stimulates appetite and controls nausea.

Put aside whether you believe marijuana should be legal for medicinal use.
Let's focus instead on the process by which it might become legal, or be
denied such legitimacy.

This session, Abrams' bill faced scrutiny from three committees - Judiciary,
Appropriations and Public Health - and all three approve the bill. So it
went to the House floor for a vote.

Normally, a bill approved on the House floor is then sent to the Senate for
its approval; or, if the Senate approves the bill first, it travels to the
governor's office for his signature.

Those of us who believe we live in a democracy rely on such a
straightforward system. But the system is an illusion.

The medical marijuana bill passed the House vote. A majority approved the
bill, which should have meant it went to the Senate. The House approved the
bill less than a week before the session was scheduled to end, so time was
of the essence.

That fact clearly was not lost on Democratic House Majority Leader James
Amann (D-118). Amann was one of the few Democrats who voted against the
medical marijuana bill, but it won anyway.

So what did the House leader do next? Did he accept defeat and forward the
bill to his colleagues in the Senate, as he should have?

No. Amann flew in the face of democracy and sent the bill instead to a
fourth committee, Finance, knowing full well that there was very little time
for that committee to act on the bill and return it for a House vote in time
to send it to the Senate before the session ended.

Amann killed the bill because he disagreed with it. His action was a slap in
the face to the democratic system - though it is a slap that resounds in
Hartford again and again, as legislators regularly use the committee system
to kill bills they oppose, rather than let the Legislature vote and live
with the results.

The Finance Committee actually passed the medical marijuana bill, but House
leaders refused to return it to the floor for another vote before the
session ended. Thus a bill that the majority of our elected representatives
voted to approve - a bill that could help assuage the suffering of
terminally ill residents - did not become law.

That is not democracy.