CONNECTICUT MULLS MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL SIMILAR TO MAINE LAW

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) 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, which is similar to Maine law, 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.