HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - A Connecticut marijuana bust has turned into a potential precedent-setting case on whether apartment and condo dwellers have the same rights as house owners when it comes to police using drug-sniffing dogs outside their homes. The state Supreme Court on Wednesday is scheduled to hear arguments in the case of Dennis Kono, who was arrested in 2012 after a police dog deployed without a warrant in a condo building hallway in Berlin smelled marijuana near his door. Berlin police then obtained a search warrant for Kono's condo and found several small marijuana plants, seeds, growing equipment and firearms. [continues 165 words]
As two of our forward-thinking state legislators have noted, it's high time we considered legalizing marijuana in Connecticut. State Rep. Roland Lemar and state Rep. Juan Candelaria, both New Haven-based Democrats, are co-sponsoring a bill that would legalize marijuana for recreational use. Although a Quinnipiac University poll last year found that 63 percent of Connecticut voters support legalizing small amounts of marijuana for recreational purposes, the bill's chance of passage is not deemed likely this time around. This is still, after all, the "Land of Steady Habits." [continues 805 words]
The state legislature's Public Health Committee approved what might be considered one of the most controversial proposals put before them in decades: medical marijuana for children. The bill, which now moves to the House for a vote, would give minors with severe epilepsy and terminal illnesses access to non-smokable marijuana, but only with parental consent and the approval of two doctors. It would be prescribed in pill or liquid form. The other conditions included in the bill include cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, uncontrolled intractable seizure disorders, or irreversible spinal cord injury with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity. [continues 609 words]
The state legislature's Public Health Committee approved what might be considered one of the most controversial proposals put before them in decades: medical marijuana for children. The bill, which now moves to the House for a vote, would give minors with severe epilepsy and terminal illnesses access to non-smokable marijuana, but only with parental consent and the approval of two doctors. It would be prescribed in pill or liquid form. The other conditions included in the bill include cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, uncontrolled intractable seizure disorders, or irreversible spinal cord injury with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity. [continues 607 words]
The state legislature's Public Health Committee approved what might be considered one of the most controversial proposals put before them in decades: medical marijuana for children. The bill, which now moves to the House for a vote, would give minors with severe epilepsy and terminal illnesses access to non-smokable marijuana, but only with parental consent and the approval of two doctors. It would be prescribed in pill or liquid form. The other conditions included in the bill include cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, uncontrolled intractable seizure disorders, or irreversible spinal cord injury with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity. [continues 605 words]
Conn. Bill Would Limit Opioid Prescriptions Hartford (AP) - Connecticut lawmakers are seeking to place new limits on opioid prescriptions to help address the problem of deadly overdoses. The General Assembly's Public Health Committee forwarded a bill on Monday that would limit doctors to writing only seven-day prescriptions for first-time adult patients. Those patients would have to return to their physician to have a prescription refilled, possibly for a longer period. Democratic Sen. Terry Gerrantana, the committee's co-chairman, says lawmakers "realize what is happening in our communities" with the large number of deadly drug overdoses in Connecticut. The bill would also allow "standing orders" for pharmacists to prescribe opioid antagonists, such as Narcan, to friends and family of someone at risk of overdosing. The bill has received bipartisan support. It now awaits action in the state Senate. [end]
The state legislature should pass a law legalizing the use of marijuana for patients under 18. Children who have no other options should not be denied this medicine. The worst pain a parent can imagine is the loss of a child. Almost as devastating is to watch a child suffer. If the suffering continues for a long time, or repeats over and over again, the helplessness is agonizing for parents, who would do anything to stop it. Parents of children who suffer multiple seizures a day, and with those episodes, a constant risk of further disability and death, are asking the Connecticut General Assembly to legalize the use of marijuana for patients under 18. For some children it offers relief from the brutal cycle of seizures that make school and play impossible and may steal the ability even to walk and talk. [continues 475 words]
Slowly but surely, like the proverbial aircraft carrier, the U.S. government is changing to a new and better course on the long-neglected issue of opioid abuse and addiction. On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention took an emphatic stand against the loose prescribing norms that have fueled the growth of opioid consumption for non-cancer pain, with the terrible result that 16,000 people a year die from overdoses. Labeling the drugs "dangerous," and noting that evidence did not support their long-term efficacy for most cases of chronic pain, CDC Director Thomas Frieden urged physicians to follow more-cautious new CDC guidelines that emphasize alternative pain management techniques. Dr. Frieden and his colleagues deserve credit for incorporating a range of views in the guidelines while resisting pressure to weaken them from interest groups that support the status quo. [continues 393 words]
New Dispensaries Expected to Open This Summer The number of Connecticut's medical marijuana patients is likely to grow more quickly with the addition Monday of six new conditions that can be treated with cannabis. "I would expect there would be additional people," said state Consumer Protection Commissioner Jonathan Harris on Tuesday. "We're pleased that more people with serious diseases will have access to medicine that can help them with pain, with symptoms and their underlying disease conditions." The new conditions eligible for the program are sickle cell disease, postlaminectomy syndrome with chronic radiculopathy, severe psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease), ulcerative colitis and complex regional pain syndrome. [continues 306 words]
New Dispensaries Expected to Open This Summer The number of Connecticut's medical marijuana patients is likely to grow more quickly with the addition Monday of six new conditions that can be treated with cannabis. "I would expect there would be additional people," said state Consumer Protection Commissioner Jonathan Harris on Tuesday. "We're pleased that more people with serious diseases will have access to medicine that can help them with pain, with symptoms and their underlying disease conditions." The new conditions eligible for the program are sickle cell disease, post-laminectomy syndrome with chronic radiculopathy, severe psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease), ulcerative colitis and complex regional pain syndrome. [continues 306 words]
Montville Girl Had Moved to Maine for Access to Drug Montville - Just last week, Susan Meehan was in Hartford telling legislators that she left Connecticut to give her daughter, Cyndimae, a better life. But Cyndimae Meehan's life ended Sunday as she napped in her father's arms in Augusta, Maine. She was 13. The former Montville resident moved to Maine with her mother two years ago, as part of the family's fight for access to medical cannabis. Medical marijuana is not approved for pediatric use in Connecticut, but Cyndimae needed it to treat her Dravet syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy. "She was a happy kid, she really was," Susan Meehan said Tuesday. "In between seizures, she had a smile on her face." [continues 732 words]
I'm sure the Connecticut Association of Prevention Professionals means well ("Marijuana Bill Draws Criticism, March 3"), however opposing cannabis (marijuana) legalization increases hard drug addiction rates, which is what Connecticut is experiencing. Selling cannabis in a regulated market removes sales from people who may also sell hard drugs. Some citizens who legitimately use opioids for medical conditions may choose cannabis if it is available over the counter like in Colorado. That could lower hard drug addiction rates. The plant hasn't killed anyone in over 5,000 years of documented use; that's safety on a Biblical scale. [continues 122 words]
This letter is in response to the Feb. 15 headline about state Rep. Matthew Lesser backing legalizing pot for recreational use. Adults, especially our leaders, have to know that marijuana use only leads to heavier usage of other drugs. I do not feel anyone needs more recreational toys and habits in this category and am really shocked that any adult feels this is a contribution to one's life. Please wake up and say no to drugs of any kind. From a concerned mother, grandmother and neighbor. - - Betty Meyer, Higganum [end]
Linda Lloyd doesn't want to leave her home in Pawcatuck, where her 6-year-old son, Henry, attends "the best school ... he could possibly attend" and has a support network of family and friends close by. "Please don't force me to move out of state and leave my home in order to give my son a fighting chance," Lloyd told the state legislature's Public Health Committee during a hearing earlier this month. Lloyd, testifying for the first time at the General Assembly, was among eight parents and more than 20 others supporting legalization of medical marijuana for their children and others with debilitating seizure disorders and other conditions that have not responded to traditional pharmaceuticals. [continues 1031 words]
Norwich - If they're still breathing, there's hope. When somebody overdoses on heroin and is treated in the emergency room at The William W. Backus Hospital, they speak to an outreach worker before they leave. It's one of the steps members the Norwich Heroin Task Force, comprising social services agencies, health care providers, police and others are taking as they try to get a handle on the growing number of heroin- and opiate- addicted residents in the region. More than 120 people attended a forum on the growing public health crisis Thursday, with presentations from social workers, doctors, addiction specialists and parents of addicted children. [continues 869 words]
To the Editor: I'm sure the Connecticut Association of Prevention Professionals means well ("Marijuana Bill Draws Criticism, March 3"), however opposing cannabis (marijuana) legalization increases hard drug addiction rates, which is what Connecticut is experiencing. Selling cannabis in a regulated market removes sales from people who may also sell hard drugs. Some citizens who legitimately use opioids for medical conditions may choose cannabis if it is available over the counter like in Colorado. That could lower hard drug addiction rates. The plant hasn't killed anyone in over 5,000 years of documented use; that's safety on a Biblical scale. [continues 122 words]
Awareness Forum Addresses Growing Opioid Epidemic GOSHEN - "Northwest Connecticut has been reeling from an unfortunate epidemic," began Brian Ohler, director of the United Coalition of Northwest Connecticut to an audience of 25 at the Goshen Center School, "one that is plagued by rampant drug-related overdose deaths." Ohler moderated an Opioid Awareness Forum at 50 North St. Saturday. Various area drug counselors and health workers discussed the subject of the burgeoning heroin epidemic and treatment options and possible solutions in Litchfield County. Audience members included health care workers, concerned local politicians, and bereaved mothers. [continues 1321 words]
Approved, Then Rescinded, West River Road Site May Be Appealed MILFORD - A state-approved-medical marijuana dispensary slated to open at 255 West River Road and opposed by nearby residential neighbors, is having an unexpected bumpy ride at the local level. A zoning permit that would allow the facility to open was both approved and rescinded on the same day. The city's Zoning Enforcement Officer approved the application of Arrow Alternative Care #2 for a dispensary on Feb. 23, a day after the application was submitted. [continues 593 words]
HARTFORD - Bills that would legalize marijuana for recreational use in Connecticut are considered a longshot by most political observers, but opponents want to make sure it stays that way. That's why the Connecticut Association of Prevention Professionals held a press conference this week at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. "Marijuana is not a harmless drug," said John Daviau, executive director of CAPP. Daviau, a community psychologist, was the main speaker at the press conference. He said they don't want politicians to be lured into believing that legalizing recreational marijuana would be "a financial boon" for Connecticut during a time when the state's facing a $1.2 billion deficit over the next 18 months. [continues 389 words]
New Haven Lawmaker Proposed Legalizing Recreational Use HARTFORD - Bills that would legalize marijuana for recreational use in Connecticut are considered a long shot by most political observers, but opponents want to make sure it stays that way. That's why the Connecticut Association of Prevention Professionals held a press conference this week at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. "Marijuana is not a harmless drug," said John Daviau, executive director of CAPP. Daviau, a community psychologist, was the main speaker at the press conference. He said they don't want politicians to be lured into believing that legalizing recreational marijuana would be "a financial boon" for Connecticut during a time when the state's facing a $1.2 billion deficit over the next 18 months. [continues 415 words]
Business Is Brisk, and Anticipated Problems Never Happened Montville - For a store that sells a product that was illegal in Connecticut five years ago, Thames Valley Alternative Relief has a pretty boring problem: parking. Laurie Zrenda and her niece, Meredith Elmer, both pharmacists, opened the Uncasville medical marijuana dispensary after a yearlong approval process in September 2014. "It was kind of a big, scary endeavor," Zrenda said. More than a year and a half later, a steady stream of up to 150 customers a day walk through the doors of the small shopping plaza just down the road from the Montville public safety building. [continues 773 words]
Surveys Show Marijuana Among Youths on the Rise in Connecticut Hartford - With surveys showing marijuana use among youth in Connecticut on the rise, substance abuse prevention groups gathered at the Legislative Office Building on Monday to launch a pre-emptive strike against any move to legalize marijuana for recreational use. "We should not consider marijuana innocent until proving guilty given what we already know," said Dr. Sandra Carbonari, a Waterbury pediatrician and immediate past president of the state's chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. "Increased access for adults will increase access for youths, regardless of age restrictions." [continues 746 words]
We recently buried our precious grandson who died from a heroin overdose. I was astounded to read in the article, "Accused heroin dealers free on bond, due in court March 4," (Feb. 23), that one of the heroin dealers who had been arrested last weekend was released on bail. This is insanity. People who sell heroin are purveyors of death. Heroin is like handing a young person a loaded gun to shoot themselves. The article spoke about ridiculous rules that allow criminals to be released on bond. Heroin is lethal and those who sell it are murderers and they should be put away for a long time without the privilege of being released. [continues 99 words]
No one of these steps will solve the crisis, but collectively they can achieve progress. This will take time. Drug addiction will never go away, but as a community and as a nation, we can do much better. In recent weeks our community has had an extraordinary discussion about the heroin crisis that confronts it. That discussion has included families touched by the disease of addiction, law enforcement, educators, the medical and substance abuse and treatment community, and elected leaders. The conversation has provided some consensus, if not universal agreement, on a way forward. Addressing the problem will take time and persistence will be paramount. [continues 647 words]
It's sad that it takes so many recent deaths to bring heroin's ugly face to light. Think of all the young people out there with the disease of addiction, knowing that even if they try to quit, they will often come to a dead end under the process of getting clean in Connecticut. First they'll go to detox, where they'll have to prove that there's enough of the drug in their system to merit a bed (for about a week); if there isn't, they go use again, although they want to quit! Then, if they manage to get a bed and make it through detox, most likely they'll have to wait, their name on a list, until a treatment facility bed is available, at one of too few places, for too short a length of time (probably 30 days). The name of the game is waiting; and heroin addicts are not good at waiting. [continues 63 words]
On April 3, 2013, the City of New London, and other municipalities throughout New London County were ground zero for a series of drug raids that the Department of Homeland Security called "the largest in State history." This 15-month long operation originated in the New London Police Department but grew to involve the U.S. Attorney's office, the FBI, Homeland Security, the State Police, and the U.S. Secret Service. In all, over 100 arrests were made on state and federal charges. [continues 648 words]
Substance Abuse Prevention Expert Tells Rotary Parents Must 'Stop Teenagers From Using Anything' New London - Since most addiction starts in the teenage years, the most effective way to combat the rising rates of heroin and prescription opioid addiction it to "stop teenagers from using anything," one of the region's leading substance abuse prevention experts told the New London Rotary Club Thursday. "We need to keep the vulnerability envelope of teens closed for as long as possible," said Karen Fischer, a longtime mental health counselor currently working for the Child & Family Agency of Southeastern Connecticut at the Lymes' Youth Service Bureau on a five-year substance abuse prevention grant. [continues 475 words]
Americans consume opioid painkillers at twice the rate of our neighbors in Canada. Since it can't be because people on this side of the border are in twice as much pain as Canadians, we have to conclude that there is a difference in the way that pain medication is distributed. That difference is important to understand. America is in the middle of a prescription opioid epidemic. There are more than 2 million people addicted to pain medication, and more people die of drug overdoses - mostly involving prescription drugs - than are killed in car crashes. [continues 286 words]
Chief Margaret Ackley Says All Resources Deployed to Combat Crisis New London - Police Chief Margaret Ackley said her department is focusing all of its resources to combat the city's heroin problem as a survey of state records shows that proportionately more people are dying from heroin in New London than other municipalities in the state. According to statistics kept by the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner from January 2012 through September 2015, heroin-related overdose deaths have been occurring at a disproportionately high rate in New London for years. [continues 745 words]
Prescribing Habits Have Changed, Doctors Say; State Touts Database A lot of Dr. Jeffrey Miller's patients come to him in severe pain after car accidents, traumatic falls and sports injuries. But over the 22 years the orthopedic surgeon has been practicing in New London, he's seen a marked change in attitudes within the medical community, from patients themselves and from health care regulators, toward how that pain is treated - a change that has become even more pronounced with the recent heroin crisis. [continues 1420 words]
In the headlines, "Heroin is a disease," (Feb. 17), though commendable, isn't accurate. Heroin is just one substance that, like many, can cause the disease of addiction. As one long free of his addiction to another substance, alcohol, I'm concerned because the recent publicity over heroin deaths masks the fact that alcohol is a deadlier killer. Alcohol-related deaths dwarf those caused by all illegal drugs combined. Despite my near-fatal addiction, like all serious observers I don't suggest banning John Barleycorn; Prohibition failed miserably. But so, all too obviously, has the so-called War on Drugs. In fact, the war has only made things worse. [continues 110 words]
Jerry Cunningham (Letter: Discourage demand for drugs, Jan. 24) must not be aware the discredited D.A.R.E. program is history because studies (including government studies) indicated it caused more drug use than no anti-drug program at all. One of the ways it increased hard drug addiction rates is by claiming cannabis (marijuana) was the worst "drug." It parroted prohibitionist government's laughable notion that cannabis is a Schedule I substance alongside heroin, while meth and cocaine are only Schedule II substances. How many Americans were taught heroin is no worse than cannabis and when they tried cannabis thought hard drugs must not be so bad, either, only to find themselves suddenly addicted to hard drugs? Prohibiting the relatively safe, extremely popular God-given plant and labeling it alongside heroin creates contempt for drug laws and the farce must end for hard drug addiction rates to diminish. - - Stan White Dillon, Colorado [end]
I must be getting old. I actually found myself sympathetic to the message Sean Penn was trying to deliver on CBS. Let me explain. Two days before the Sean Penn interview aired, there was a story in the local paper of yet another young man dying from a heroin overdose. If Sean Penn's point was that if we want to stop the death and destruction caused by drugs, the war on drugs must be fought on two fronts, I wholehearted agree. [continues 232 words]
I must be getting old. I actually found myself sympathetic to the message Sean Penn was trying to deliver on CBS. Let me explain. Two days before the Sean Penn interview aired, there was a story in the local paper of yet another young man dying from a heroin overdose. If Sean Penn's point was that if we want to stop the death and destruction caused by drugs, the war on drugs must be fought on two fronts, I wholehearted agree. [continues 233 words]
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. In January 1964, the Beatles first broke onto the Billboard chart with "I Want to Hold Your Hand;" by June, Ringo Starr had collapsed from tonsillitis and pharyngitis. In January, the surgeon general announced that scientists had found conclusive evidence linking smoking to cancer and thus launched our highly successful 50-year public-health fight against tobacco. In August, the North Vietnamese fired on a U.S. naval ship in the Gulf of Tonkin, which led to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and the public phase of the Vietnam War. Alongside an accelerating deployment of conventional troops would come their widespread use of marijuana and heroin. [continues 765 words]
A new tool in the war against drugs may turn out to be one of the most effective because it saves lives in the nick of time. It's called naloxone hydrochloride - commonly referred to by the brand name Narcan - a life-saving medication that can stop or reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. No longer is it just illegal drugs such as heroin and cocaine that are being abused, but also opioids that include prescription medications such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, and morphine. JOHN BERRY - REGISTER CITIZEN FILE PHOTO Naloxone hydrochloride, known by the name-brand Narcan, in a medical kit on a Campion Ambulance in Torrington. [continues 444 words]
A new tool in the war against drugs may turn out to be one of the most effective because it saves lives in the nick of time. It's called naloxone hydrochloride - commonly referred to by the brand name Narcan - a life-saving medication that can stop or reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. No longer is it just illegal drugs such as heroin and cocaine that are being abused, but also opioids that include prescription medications such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, and morphine. [continues 444 words]
Culture Change Seen As Authorities Target Big Hauls, Weapons NEW HAVEN - A West Haven man charged with conspiring in a marijuana trafficking scheme in New Haven will stand trial in federal court in December. Jesse Wrubel was charged by a federal grand jury in February 2014 for being involved in a marijuana trafficking scheme involving 60 pounds of marijuana and three stolen firearms. His co-defendant, Matthew Voloshin, has elected to plead guilty and awaits sentencing. The two have been detained since Feb. 7, 2014. [continues 935 words]
Concerns voiced by the first selectman, the police chief, the town social services director, and a state representative persuaded the Planning and Zoning Commission it might not be time for medical marijuana facilities in Ridgefield. "From a law-enforcement perspective, do I want to see more and more people coming in, potentially driving under the influence?" police Chief John Roche said. "No, I don't." The commission voted 6-to-2 Tuesday night, Oct. 27, to have Town Planner Betty Brosius put together a regulation prohibiting medical marijuana facilities in Ridgefield. [continues 1092 words]
Half a year ago, Colorado and Washington voters approved ballot measures to make marijuana legal in their states. But ending the pot prohibition can't happen overnight, even after electoral wins like that. Just ask Gil Kerlikowske, the nation's "drug czar." "Neither a state nor the executive branch can nullify a statute passed by Congress," Kerlikowske declared in a mid-April appearance at the National Press Club. That makes it sound pretty improbable that Colorado and Washington voters will see the change they supported at the ballot box anytime soon, doesn't it? [continues 494 words]
'Inconsistencies' Cited in Handling by Nl Police New London - Defense attorneys representing dozens of clients charged with drug crimes by New London police have been receiving letters from State's Attorney Michael L. Regan indicating that the evidence seized in their clients' cases may have been compromised. Regan said Tuesday that an audit of the police department property room by the state police Central District Major Crime Squad and New London police is continuing. To date, the audit has revealed "several inconsistencies," according to police. [continues 697 words]
This is in response to the editorial "Malloy didn't call anyone racist but drug enforcement is" (May 18). Regarding the comments made by Gov. Dannel Malloy that upset Republican legislators: The drug war has been waged in a racist manner since its inception. The Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914 was preceded by a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment. Opium was identified with Chinese laborers, marijuana with Mexicans, and cocaine with African-Americans. Racial profiling continues to be the norm, despite similar rates of drug use for minorities and whites. Support for the drug war would end overnight if whites were incarcerated for drugs at the same rate as minorities. [continues 117 words]
Republican state legislators want an apology from Governor Malloy for what they construe as his accusation that they are racist for opposing repeal of the law establishing 1,500-foot "drug-free" zones around schools, whereby mere possession of drugs is made a felony nearly everywhere in cities, where most blacks and Hispanics live, but not so much in suburbs and rural towns, where most whites live. While the governor, a Democrat, was not obliged to apologize for what he didn't quite say, he might have remembered that soft words turn away wrath and expressed regret for misunderstanding. That would have facilitated repeal of the questionable drug law instead of engendering resentment of repeal. [continues 537 words]
Yale Professor: Safety, THC Content, Expanding Use at Issue MIDDLETOWN - Since the federal government historically has obstructed scientific research of marijuana, there's an absence of highquality evidence, just as many states, including Connecticut, already have rolled out the red carpet to the fast-growing medical marijuana industry. It's a Catch 22, according to Dr. Deepak C. D'Souza, a Yale professor-psychiatrist and member of the Medical Marijuana Board of Physicians. "In the absence of gold-standard evidence, what is the bar for legalization?" D'Souza asked Tuesday at the Middlesex County Substance Abuse Action Council's spring forum. [continues 530 words]
Connecticut Republican state legislators are angry again at Gov. Dannel Malloy. Last week the governor noted the racially disproportionate effect of the state's drug laws, which impose more severe penalties in the cities where most members of racial minorities live than in the suburbs and rural towns where most white people live. The law, the governor said, "is patently unfair and, if not racist in intent, is racist in its outcome." The governor has proposed to repeal the law that makes mere drug possession in cities a more serious crime than drug possession elsewhere. He does not propose to change the law about selling drugs. [continues 393 words]
Several years ago at a public forum, I found myself sitting in front of Mayor John Daniels. I took the opportunity to ask him what he thought was the greatest legacy of his administration. He responded that community policing would have been his greatest legacy but that the city had all but abandoned it. Fortunately this approach to law enforcement has since been restored. Mayor Daniels said that the city's needle-exchange program had been his greatest single gift to the city. This program, which he had first opposed and ultimately embraced, was shown by a landmark Yale Public Health study to have reduced new AIDS infections in New Haven (80 percent of which were transmitted by hypodermic needles) by a third. The level of trust created by not being subject to arrest by participating also provided an opportunity for health professionals to refer addicts to drug rehabilitation programs that they might otherwise not have known about or been open to considering. [continues 97 words]
Give thanks for the little things, they say. A bill that would stop the feds from going after medical marijuana users in states that permit such activity is something for which we should give thanks. But it is little. Let's not criticize the sponsoring senators - Rand Paul, R-Ky., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Cory Booker, D-N.J. - for such a small reprieve from the war on drugs. They've probably gone about as far as they could within the two-faced confines of our national politics. [continues 537 words]
Another reason to re-legalize cannabis (marijuana) for sick citizens and their families that doesn't get mentioned (Letter: Medical marijuana can improve quality of life for hundreds of children, March 2, 2015) is because it is biblically correct since God (The Ecologician) created all the seed bearing plants saying they're all good on literally the very first page of the Bible. Further, many people know of cannabis as the tree of life and the very last page of the Bible indicates the leaves of the tree of life are for the healing of the nations. Christ Jesus risked jail in order to heal the sick. A sane or moral argument to cage sick people who use cannabis doesn't exist. Stan White Dillon, Colorado [end]
John S. Santa has been successful in the fuel oil and energy business, but his real passion is trying to reduce the population of nonviolent offenders in the state's correctional system and to help those who are released into a society that turns its back on ex-offenders. Santa and the Rev. Marilyn B. Kendrix, associate pastor of Church of the Redeemer, United Church of Christ, met with the New Haven Register's editorial board Tuesday as members of the Malta Justice Initiative, which is, among other things, supporting Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's "Second Chance Society" proposals to reduce the human and financial costs of the state's criminal justice system. [continues 808 words]
Inside) ORDER BY 1-- KpVK Connecticut
