MEDICAL MARIJUANA CLEARS HURDLE

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - An effort to legalize the use of marijuana for
medical purposes cleared a legislative hurdle on Wednesday.

The Judiciary Committee voted 21-18 in favor of the bill. It now moves to
the Public Health Committee.

The bill allows Connecticut residents with certain debilitating medical
conditions to cultivate and use marijuana for medical purposes under certain
circumstances and with certain restrictions.

A patient's treating physician would have to provide a professional opinion
that the benefits of the medical use of marijuana outweigh the health risks
for the patient.

The bill is similar to laws on the books in Alaska, California, Colorado,
Hawaii and Maine, according to the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington,
D.C. Rep. James Abrams, D-Meriden, has proposed the legislation for the past
couple years.

"This is an important step forward for seriously ill patients in
Connecticut," said Billy Rogers, director of state policies for the
Marijuana Policy Project.

But Rep. John Wayne Fox, D-Stamford, said there has not been an outcry for
legalizing marijuana for medical purposes. He mentioned how 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."