CONNECTICUT SHOULD ALLOW MEDICAL MARIJUANA

There is controversy involved in the use of marijuana for medical
purposes, with opponents insisting that legalization is a slippery
slope that will encourage the use of illegal drugs.

For those who suffer from debilitating illnesses and have used
marijuana to ease their condition, this is about freedom and
compassion. They don't think police and lawmakers should be able to
label them criminals.

Connecticut has struggled with this issue over the years. In 1981,
it adopted one of the first medical marijuana laws in the nation.
The law allows a physician to prescribe marijuana to relieve nausea
from chemotherapy and eye pressure from glaucoma.

But this law is unworkable. Under federal law, physicians who
prescribe marijuana risk having their right to prescribe drugs
revoked as well as being sent to prison.

This year, the legislature is considering another approach. A bill
would allow a physician to certify that an adult patient would
benefit from the use of marijuana. After registering with the state
Department of Consumer Protection, the patient and the patient's
primary caregiver could grow, indoors, no more than four marijuana plants.

It is heartbreaking to hear patients and their loved ones begging
for the legal right to the relief that marijuana provides to some patients.

A carefully regulated program will allow them to get the help, the
freedom, they request in a compassionate and legal manner.