STATE HOUSE PASSES MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL

The state House of Representatives Wednesday passed a measure
allowing seriously ill individuals to grow marijuana at home to ease
their pain.

The bill passed by a 89-58 bipartisan vote that was comprised of a
unique coalition of supportive lawmakers, who appeared to be bonded
by their own experiences with family members and friends suffering
with chronic or terminal illnesses.

Bill opponents said it sends the wrong message to young people that
it is OK to use illegal drugs and that illegal drugs can be good for you.

But Rep. Russell Morin, D-Wethersfield and a father of three, spoke
of another message he wanted to send to his children by passing the bill.

"The message I want to send to them is the message of compassion,"
Morin said. "We are not condoning illegal drug use. What this bill
will do is show that we care."

The bill is not limited to the terminally ill. It allows individuals
with serious illnesses such as epilepsy, glaucoma, multiple
sclerosis and HIV to grow up to four marijuana plants up to 4 feet
high in the privacy of their homes if they obtain a
doctor's prescription that it is necessary to ease their pain.

A law already exists legalizing the use of marijuana in certain
instances under a pharmacists prescription, but it has never been
used because marijuana, as a natural organic product, is not stocked
in dispensed in local pharmacies.

Debate on the bill lasted more than six hours, the longest
discussion of the current legislative session. Rep. Antoinette
Boucher, R-Wilton, led the opposition. Boucher spend more than three
hours arguing against the bill and was prepared to introduce more
than 50 amendments in an effort to forestall its passage.
She stopped at seven after seeing each one fail.

"Despite being well-intentioned, this bill could be one of the most
dangerous proposals to come before us in a long time," Boucher said.
"It defies all logic and responsibility for us to go down this path
when we are banning tobacco and second-hand smoke."

"By passing this bill as it is written, we will be breaking the
trust we have with our constituents to protect them," Boucher said.

The bill now goes to the Senate, which must take action by the time
the legislative session ends June 6 for it to have any chance of becoming law.

A source in the 36-member Senate chamber said Wednesday that the
Democrat-controlled body had yet to caucus on the bill, and he was
unsure whether it would come up for a vote in the next two weeks.

Even if the measure passes in the Senate it would still need Gov. M.
Jodi Rell's signature to become law. Rell said Wednesday she has yet
to take a position on the matter.

"I have the same mixed emotions I had before," said Rell, who has
discussed the bill with Boucher. "I wish it had this language in it:
for terminally ill individuals. I think everybody would feel better
about passage of the bill. People would have a better comfort
level with that language. There are some drawbacks to it."

A similar measure died in the General Assembly two years ago. A
medical marijuana bill narrowly passed in the Senate in 2005, but
failed to be taken up for a vote in the House of Representatives
before the legislative session concluded.