My great-grandparents gifted my Grandpa with a tavern, at Church & Chapel Streets in New Haven, when Gramps graduated from NYU. The year was 1924. The extensive array of liquor covered the walls of the back bar, behind the restaurant, in vintage photographs. Fats Waller frequently hung out, there - and the marijuana that they smoked was perfectly legal. The tavern closed, with the repeal of prohibition. I like to imagine that we'd still have had our New Haven tavern, if alcohol hadn't been repealed. Yet, just as repeal was the right thing to do, then, abolishing marijuana prohibition is of utmost importance today. Unlike with alcohol, America was founded using industrial marijuana products such as canvas, hemp paper, soaps, paints, and so on. The prohibition of cannabis, under the mandated pejorative, "marihuana" (FDR, 1937) is utterly more offensive to American history than alcohol prohibition was. - - Matthew Stover Philadelphia, Pa. [end]
I'm writing about your thoughtful editorial: "States should determine own pot laws" (2-5-14). I'd like to add that the cannabis legalization issue is not whether cannabis is completely safe for everybody, including children and adolescents; it is not. The issue is freedom of choice for adults. Children have died from eating peanuts and peanut butter but we don't cage peanut growers, sellers or consumers. And the voters of Colorado and Washington state have decided that we should not arrest and jail cannabis growers, sellers or consumers. Connecticut adults have the freedom of choice of whether or not to consume legal alcohol. Shouldn't they have the same freedom of choice regarding legal cannabis? Kirk Muse Mesa, Ariz. [end]
In response to Cindy O'Neill's belief that marijuana will only benefit addicts: Cindy you've obviously never watched a loved one die a slow, excruciating death; or known someone who did receive relief from your so-called stronger pills, but was still left with nausea and drastic weight loss from chemo. It's been proven with medical research that marijuana does help cancer patients, people with nerve damage pain and, yes, those with anxiety, to name a few. You will find it is no longer the nickel bag from the street helping these people. There are now many different strains, each containing different medical properties responding to different illnesses. They have even recently discovered a strain that will alleviate seizures in children with epilepsy and other brain disorders; would you deny them the chance at living a normal life? [continues 196 words]
Prohibitionist government and politicians orchestrated cannabis (marijuana) prohibition and citizens don't care how it ends (Editorial: States Should Determine Own Pot Laws, Feb. 5, 2014), as long as it is immediately. It's one of America's worst policy failures in history. The plant never should have been labeled a Schedule I substance alongside heroin while methamphetamine and cocaine are only Schedule II substances. There are numerous options for government to end this discredited devil law before the end of the day. Citizens know cannabis prohibition is discredited and could end today and have demonstrated they're not waiting on snail pace measures to get the job done. [continues 58 words]
Drug-related deaths in Connecticut hit their highest point in nearly 10 years last year, according to statistics from the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. It's a development that is not surprising to law enforcement and treatment providers throughout the state. "Mood altering has always been a stubborn problem -- stubborn and persistent," said Alan Mathis, chief executive officer of Liberation Programs, a drug treatment program with facilities in Norwalk, Stamford and Bridgeport. "We've never won the war on drugs." [continues 863 words]
A new conventional wisdom is on the rise: Drug prohibition, or "the war on drugs," is a costly flop. It not only failed to cut drug use and associated social ills significantly but has also imposed additional social costs - or "catastrophic harm," as my colleague Radley Balko put it - far exceeding the benefits. Those costs include violent crime linked to the black-market drug trade as well as the mass arrest and incarceration of small-time users, a disproportionate number of whom are African American. [continues 726 words]
Am I the only person who sees that this marijuana factory is just a means to let addicts legally use drugs? What's next, heroin-on-demand? You can't tell me that the average non-addict person who has terrible pain from cancer or another illness would ask for marijuana for pain instead of taking a strong pain pill prescribed by their doctor. Only people who are addicts would go for it, not normal people. A totally stupid idea, especially since cigarettes and their smoke is banned everywhere - but marijuana smoke is a godsend to people in pain? If you've never smoked it, you're not going to ask for it. Another example on why our country is going down the drain! - - Cindy O'Neill Orange [end]
I'm writing about your thoughtful editorial: "States should determine own pot laws" (2-5-14). I'd like to add that the cannabis legalization issue is not whether cannabis is completely safe for everybody, including children and adolescents; it is not. The issue is freedom of choice for adults. Children have died from eating peanuts and peanut butter but we don't cage peanut growers, sellers or consumers. And the voters of Colorado and Washington state have decided that we should not arrest and jail cannabis growers, sellers or consumers. Connecticut adults have the freedom of choice of whether or not to consume legal alcohol. Shouldn't they have the same freedom of choice regarding legal cannabis? - - Kirk Muse Mesa, AZ [end]
I felt pretty good heading into Black History Month. I ended 2013 on a high note, had settled quite nicely into my new job as metro editor at the Register and with the help of newsroom staff, had put together a good group of stories that represented a crosssection of the black community. So I was feeling a bit heady on the eve of Black History Month as I sat down to edit a story about a man awarded a site in West Haven to grow "medical marijuana." [continues 975 words]
A national anti-marijuana organization announced Monday it would join forces with a state group, and warned legalization efforts are poised to create a public health crisis in the form of the "next Big Tobacco." Smart Approaches to Marijuana, founded in January 2013 by former U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, D-R.I., and Kevin A. Sabet, a former White House policy adviser, announced at a press conference it would work with the Connecticut Association of Prevention Practitioners. Sabet said the marijuana movement that has led to the drug's legal, recreational use in Colorado and Washington state is being driven by money and is not a "mom and pop" industry. It is "multimillion dollar, multinational conglomerate," he said. [continues 455 words]
Warns of 'Next Tobacco Industry' HARTFORD - A national anti-marijuana organization announced Monday it would join forces with a state group, and warned legalization efforts are poised to create a public health crisis in the form of the "next Big Tobacco." Smart Approaches to Marijuana, founded in January 2013 by former U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, D-R.I., and Kevin A. Sabet, a former White House policy adviser, announced at a press conference it would work with the Connecticut Association of Prevention Practitioners. [continues 496 words]
Given the Food and Drug Administration's job to safeguard society, it needs to say something about the marketing of marijuana for "medical" and "recreational" use. Inhalation of burning marijuana subjects the user to essentially intravenous doses of unknown quantities of mixtures of unknown purity; potent agents with diverse pharmacologic effects. I say intravenous because the materialis drawn into the deepest passages of the lungs, the alveoli, highly vascularized small sacs which allow the easy rapid transfer of oxygen into the blood. [continues 148 words]
Twenty states plus the District of Columbia now allow sales of medicinal marijuana, allowing pot prescriptions to treat pretty much any malady, from a headache to a hangnail. Why should Holder decide which federal statutes to enforce and which to ignore? Colorado and Washington have legalized the drug for recreational use, too. Yet federal law still prohibits the possession, use and sale of marijuana for any reason. This dichotomy explains why some banks are reluctant to accept the large amounts of cash that pot purveyors generate - even if the cash is legal under state law. [continues 322 words]
Twenty states plus the District of Columbia now allow sales of medicinal marijuana, allowing pot prescriptions to treat pretty much any malady, from a headache to a hangnail. Colorado and Washington have legalized the drug for recreational use, too. Yet federal law still prohibits the possession, use and sale of marijuana for any reason. This dichotomy explains why some banks are reluctant to accept the large amounts of cash that pot purveyors generate - even if the cash is legal under state law. [continues 436 words]
Portland Owners Putting Emphasis on Research PORTLAND - An East Hampton witch hazel distiller and a Northford organic farmer will join industry experts from across the country to build one of the first four medical marijuana production facilities in the state. The state Department of Consumer Protection last week announced that Connecticut Pharmaceutical Solutions, LLC, will receive one of four licenses to become a medical marijuana producer. Thomas Schultz, the president of CPS and vice president of East Hampton-based American Distilling, said the prospector will set up shop at 47 Main St. in Portland, a piece of private land zoned for manufacturing. [continues 567 words]
Towns are grappling with the decision last year to legalize the manufacture and sale of medical marijuana. Change can be difficult for Connecticut's 169 municipalities. It's especially challenging for local planning and zoning commissions to wade into uncharted waters. And nothing is more uncharted than a medical marijuana dispensary. Towns are grappling with the General Assembly's decision last year to legalize the manufacture and sale of medical marijuana. To say that towns are unprepared to regulate such enterprises is quite an understatement. Since there was never any need to address them, marijuana dispensaries have gone unmentioned in local zoning codes for as long as zoning has been around. [continues 638 words]
Regarding Alejandro Hope's op-ed, "Legal marijuana won't bring peace to Mexico," (Jan. 26), if the goal of marijuana prohibition is to subsidize Mexican drug cartels, prohibition is a grand success. The drug war distorts supply and demand dynamics so that big money grows on little trees. If the goal is to deter use, marijuana prohibition is a catastrophic failure. The United States has almost double the rate of marijuana use as the Netherlands, where marijuana is legal. The criminalization of Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis has no basis in science. The war on marijuana consumers is a failed cultural inquisition, not an evidence-based public health campaign. This country can no longer afford to subsidize the prejudices of culture warriors. Not just in Washington and Colorado but throughout the nation, it's time to stop the pointless arrests and instead tax legal marijuana. Robert Sharpe Editor's note: The writer is a policy analyst for the organization Common Sense for Drug Policy. [end]
Malloy: Facilities to Bring 100 Jobs; West Haven, Portland, Simsbury, Watertown Selected WESTHAVEN - State officials Tuesday announced the sites of four medical marijuana-growing facilities, which they say will serve patients who cannot find relief from other treatments. The companies picked were Advanced Grow Labs in West Haven; Connecticut Pharmaceutical Solutions in Portland; Curaleaf in Simsbury; and Theraplant in Watertown. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and state Department of Consumer Protection Commissioner William Rubenstein made the announcement Tuesday morning. They said the next step would be to license possibly five dispensaries, which would be located separately from the growing sites, and that medical marijuana would be available for patients by this summer. [continues 645 words]
Since Jan. 1, Colorado has had a legal marijuana market. The same will soon be true in Washington State, once retail licenses are issued. Other states, such as California and Oregon, will likely follow suit over the next three years. So does this creeping legalization of marijuana in the United States spell doom for the Mexican drug cartels? Not quite. The illegal marijuana trade provides Mexican organized crime with about $1.5 billion to $2 billion a year. That's not chump change, but according to a number of estimates, it represents no more than a third of gross drug export revenue. Cocaine is still the cartels' biggest money-maker and the revenue accruing from heroin and methamphetamine aren't trivial. Moreover, Mexican gangs also obtain income from extortion, kidnapping, theft and various other types of illegal trafficking. [continues 498 words]
Marijuana was legal in Connecticut until the 1930s, its fall from favor less attributable to health concerns than suppressing bootleg and legal liquor sales. Marijuana is no more a "gateway drug" than abused prescriptions, alcohol, nicotine and a long lists of other chemical cravings, including caffeine. Caveats for legalized marijuana should involve the same restrictions imposed on alcohol, Oxycontin and Vicodin -- don't operate machinery, perform brain surgery, or drive a car. Aside from impaired judgment, statistics suggest occasional, smokeless marijuana use is significantly healthier than chronic consumption of animal fats, processed meats and derivative byproducts. Marijuana alleviates glaucoma, mellows demeanors and boosts "munchies," Jimi Hendrix and strobe light sales -- not diabetes, cancers, heart disease and hypertension. [continues 268 words]
President Obama got it just about right when asked recently about marijuana and its use, saying "I don't think it is more dangerous than alcohol," and that it is also "a bad idea, a waste of time." Having "been there and done that" myself, I can strongly second the president's opinions, although I would add "colossal" to "waste of time." Like alcohol, marijuana can be detrimental, and dangerous, particularly if it is ill-used by young people. Equally, as the president also says, "let's be clear." Marijuana can be an innocent recreation, open interesting psycho-active parts of our brain and consciousness, and it can also be a soul-sucking source of addiction, dissolution and stupidity. It is all about how, and who is using it, and how much. Does it belong, as the DEA now classifies it, in the same category as heroin, LSD or ecstasy? No. Can it be dangerous? Absolutely. [continues 574 words]
Parents who have convinced their children that alcohol and tobacco are bad for them are likely struggling next with how to talk with their teens about marijuana - especially as it has become legal for adults to use recreationally in Colorado. The perceptions many teens - and often, their parents - have about pot are not only wrong, they can be dangerous, say medical and treatment professionals. An ongoing study of the behaviors and attitudes of teens and young adults has found that while teens aren't necessarily reporting higher use of marijuana, they're less likely to consider it "risky." The 2013 Monitoring the Future survey, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, found that from 2005 to 2013, the percentage of high school students seeing great risk from being a regular marijuana user has fallen among eighthgraders from 74 percent to 61 percent, and among 12th-graders from 58 percent to 40 percent. This concerns members of the medical community who say that pot is bad for developing brains. [continues 1139 words]
Hope and change are yesterday's buzz words. Today, Democrats are turning straight to drugs to generate buzz. "Legalization of marijuana is going to become an issue," said veteran Democratic strategist Tad Devine. "I believe it's an issue that will absolutely activate a voter base, of young people in particular." Maybe it will energize the party's liberal base-if those voters aren't too stoned to get to the polls. But whether it's aimed at the 2014 midterm elections, or at 2016, there's something desperate-looking about the Democrats' latest smoke signals. [continues 600 words]
It seemed like a good idea at the time: The Compassionate Use Act of 1996 allowed Californians to use marijuana with a doctor's permission to alleviate pain. The act was put on the ballot and California voters passed it 56% to 44%, making California the first state to legalize weed for medicinal reasons. Almost immediately, thousands of pot "clinics" opened across the Golden State. In San Francisco, things got so out of control that then-Mayor Gavin Newsom, a very liberal guy, had to shutter many of the "clinics" because drug addicts were clustering around them, causing fear among city residents. [continues 476 words]
Stiffer Penalties for Those With Drugs Within 1,500 Feet of a School, Day Care Center or Public Housing Unfairly Targets Those in Urban Areas, Where Spaces Are Far Tighter Than in the Suburbs. Back in the 1980s, many state legislatures passed laws establishing "drug free" zones around schools on the theory they would protect children from being preyed upon by people selling marijuana, heroin and cocaine. It seemed like a good idea at the time but then facts intervened and the drug free law turned out to be nothing more than a "feel good" action that provided the illusion of fighting the war on drugs without actually accomplishing much beyond filling prisons. [continues 685 words]
Letter to the editor I was happy to read that the Connecticut Sentencing Commission unanimously recommended shrinking drug-free zones from 1,500 to 200 feet from public school property [Dec. 20, Page 1, "Drug-Free School Zones Could Shrink"]. When I was student body president at UConn, I saw the impact of our current laws first-hand. Since E.O. Smith High School is right next to campus, its drug-free zone includes many UConn dorms and apartments. If caught with drugs, the more than 2,700 students living in the zone were at risk of astronomically higher penalties than their peers living right across the street. [continues 132 words]
Protective Zones Around Schools Raise Questions Do crime-free zones around schools and other places where children gather actually protect children? The question will be aired in the next session of the General Assembly because of two proposals, one that seeks to reduce the size of drug-free zones around schools and another that would create zones around schools where sex offenders couldn't live. The Connecticut Sentencing Commission has unanimously approved a recommendation to scale back the state's drug-free zone from 1,500 feet to 200 feet of school property. Meanwhile, two legislators are proposing a bill that would prohibit registered sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school or day-care center. [continues 554 words]
Letter to the editor I think it's a good idea to give drug users and their suppliers a break and allow them to do their thing closer to schools [Dec. 20, Page 1, "Drug-Free School Zones Could Shrink"]. Let's face it, these fine men and women of our society have been cheated out of selling their drugs closer to school properties. Plus, do you have any idea how much money in drug revenues has been lost due to these restrictions? I agree with the scholars, let's scale back these restrictions. It's not fair to these people. Why give them more jail time for something so stupid like selling crack and herion so close to a school? John N. Michaels, Newington [end]
Old habits die hard. Take the War on Drugs. Please. Yes, its momentum has sagged a bit now, what with the Pew Research Center finding that a majority of Americans believe marijuana should be legal. But don't hold your breath waiting for new national laws. There's way too much money and political posturing riding on our outmoded crusade. Some individual states are starting to say no to the Drug War. Twenty of them, plus the District of Columbia, have already legalized pot for medical needs. Colorado's and Washington State's voters have cast their ballots in favor of legalizing it for recreational use, too. [continues 379 words]
Old habits die hard. Take the War on Drugs. Please. Yes, its momentum has sagged a bit now, what with the Pew Research Center finding that a majority of Americans believe marijuana should be legal. But don't hold your breath waiting for new national laws. There's way too much money and political posturing riding on our outmoded crusade. Some individual states are starting to say no to the Drug War. Twenty of them, plus the District of Columbia, have already legalized pot for medical needs. Colorado's and Washington State's voters have cast their ballots in favor of legalizing it for recreational use, too. [continues 378 words]
University Develops Quality Control Tests for the New Industry WEST HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - The microscope at the University of New Haven, set at 10-times magnification, shows a marijuana leaf covered with dozens of tiny bumps. It's mold, and someone, somewhere could be smoking similarly contaminated pot and not have a clue. Heather Miller Coyle, a forensic botanist and associate professor at the university, says many things not visible to the naked eye have been found in marijuana, mold, mildew, insect parts, salmonella and E. coli, to name a few. [continues 574 words]
Scientists at Conn. University Method to Make Analysis Quick, Easy WEST HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - The microscope at the University of New Haven, set at 10-times magnification, shows a marijuana leaf covered with dozens of tiny bumps. It's mold, and someone, somewhere could be smoking similarly contaminated pot and not have a clue. Heather Miller Coyle, a forensic botanist and associate professor at the university, says all sorts of nasty things not visible to the naked eye have been found in marijuana - mold, mildew, insect parts, salmonella and E. coli, to name a few. [continues 624 words]
Testing Can ID Contaminants West Haven, conn. (AP) - The microscope at the University of New Haven, set at 10-times magnification, shows a marijuana leaf covered with dozens of tiny bumps. It's mold, and someone, somewhere could be smoking similarly contaminated pot and not have a clue. Heather Miller Coyle, a forensic botanist and associate professor at the university, says all sorts of nasty things not visible to the naked eye have been found in marijuana - mold, mildew, insect parts, salmonella and E. coli, to name a few. [continues 277 words]
As a person affected by a rare neuromuscular disorder, I took offense at the headline "21 Seek Chance To Sell Pot" [Dec. 2, Page 1]. It was a poor choice of words, suggesting a picture of street thugs selling to recreational dopeheads rather than legitimate professionals providing a legal medication to patients. The headline was demeaning to those who have exhausted all other options seeking to get some measure of relief from the pain or spasticity they constantly endure from their diseases. Let's stick with the compassionate, respectful, scientifically correct designation "medical marijuana" -- please! Dolores Carron, Newington [end]
BRANFORD - Pending the state's final blessing, one of five medical marijuana dispensaries approved to operate in Connecticut could be based in town. Town Planner Jose Giner confirmed Friday that the Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved an exemption to allow Fairfield-based Bluepoint Apothecary to open a medical marijuana dispensary at 469 East Main St., the same building that houses Planet Fitness and located within the space once occupied by the former Daydream Spa. The application was approved under the condition there are "no retail sales of marijuana pipes on the premises," according to decision language. [continues 166 words]
"Measures to legalize marijuana win approval," (Nov. 7), tells us, "In Colorado, voters backed a heavy tax on recreational marijuana that was made legal here last year," giving a whole new meaning to the term "Rocky Mountain High." Similar to same-sex marriage, these are issues that have been held back too long, whose time has come, with marijuana legalization a plausible way for state governments to close budget gaps, capturing some of the revenue that would otherwise flow underground to the shadow economy. The 21st Amendment abandoned total prohibition of alcohol in 1933 when the government finally chose to tax questionable habits rather than forbid them. Recreational or medicinal, bringing marijuana out from the shadows is past due, recognizing that legislating undesirable habits is an inferior way to confront a potential positive in terms of control and revenue generation. Jay Lustgarten Stonington [end]
It hasn't been easy for those who want to get into the business of growing or selling marijuana in Connecticut. More than a dozen municipalities throughout the state are hanging out "not welcome" signs, using the only tools at their disposal -- land use and zoning laws -- to keep the industry from setting up shop within their borders. Still other communities are drafting local ordinances to regulate how the businesses will be run. And at least one town has considered applications from a couple of would-be purveyors, only to quickly turn them down. [continues 1777 words]
Regarding Dave Collins' Oct. 13 column, "Medical marijuana a growth industry," not only should medical marijuana be made available to patients in need, but adult recreational use should be regulated. Drug policies modeled after alcohol prohibition have given rise to a youth-oriented black market. Illegal drug dealers don't ID for age, but they do recruit minors immune to adult sentences. So much for protecting the children. Throwing more money at the problem is no solution. Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only increase the profitability of drug trafficking. For addictive drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The drug war doesn't fight crime, it fuels crime. [continues 69 words]
A panel of lawyers Friday explored the legal minefield Connecticut's medical marijuana statute presents for attorneys representing clients seeking to produce and distribute a product the state permits but which the federal government prohibits. The discussion, part of a forum at the University of Connecticut School of Law, centered around "demystifying" the state's medical marijuana policy. Connecticut's medical marijuana program has been touted as one of the most tightly regulated programs of its kind and an August U.S. Department of Justice memo suggested the federal government is unlikely to crack down on the state any time soon. [continues 441 words]
I might say at the outset that I can be counted out if people around here develop a Not in My Backyard mindset in regards to medical marijuana. I am fine with it if someone wants to set up a growing facility in my neighborhood for medical marijuana. After all, by license from the state, the facility must be indoors, in a secure facility and can't be too close to schools or churches. It has to be run by creditworthy people of good character, who will have to undergo background checks. [continues 572 words]
More than 1,100 Connecticut residents have now registered to use medical marijuana, but others have had difficulty finding a doctor participating in the program. The state's law allowing the palliative use of marijuana permits people with certain debilitating illnesses to get a recommendation from a doctor if they wish to register with the state to use the substance. As of Monday, 1,118 people had registered with the Department of Consumer Protection to use medical marijuana. However, only a small percentage of the state's physicians, around 100, have signed up with the department to write the patient recommendations. Meanwhile, the medical marijuana law includes a provision which exempts the names of those doctors from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. [continues 663 words]
A few weeks ago my wife and I were in Boston for a Saturday wedding. We went for a walk on Sunday morning down to the Common - wherein we found the Boston Freedom Rally, billed as the largest hempfest on the East Coast. Whoa, '60s flashback, groovy, man, far-out. The event was part state fair and part protest, with music, booths and speakers. It's put on every year, usually without tremendous enthusiasm from city hall, by the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition, toward the goal of "a more moral and rational public policy regarding all uses of the cannabis plant." [continues 633 words]
MONROE - Monroe planning and zoning officials are considering a moratorium on marijuana dispensaries as they figure out Connecticut's new state medical marijuana law. Shelton and Ansonia have already imposed moratoriums to study how their zoning regulations fit in with the state law for marijuana dispensing facilities. In Monroe, a proposal has been made to put a marijuana production facility at a vacant industrial building. William Agresta, the planning and zoning administrator for Monroe, told the Connecticut Post that the town is sorting out the state law. [continues 112 words]
For the time being it appears that the federal government is unlikely to crack down on Connecticut's newly approved medical marijuana program. The Justice Department released a memo Thursday outlining its enforcement priorities in light of recent state laws. The four-page memo is predominantly aimed at addressing laws passed in Colorado and Washington, which have legalized marijuana for recreational use. But the document acknowledges that several states have approved the substance for medical use. The Middletown Common Council approved a lease in August with Greenbelt Management at the city owned Remington Rand building. Greenbelt intends to install a medical marijuana production facility in the 15,000 square-foot rental, pending approval from the state Department of Consumer Protection. [continues 450 words]
It appears that for now the federal government is unlikely to crack down on Connecticut's newly approved medical marijuana program after the Justice Department released a memo outlining its enforcement priorities in light of recent state laws. The four-page memo is predominantly aimed at addressing laws passed in Colorado and Washington, which have legalized marijuana for recreational use. But the document acknowledges that several states have approved the substance for medical use. Although it still considers marijuana to be an illegal and dangerous drug, in general, the DOJ seems content at the moment to allow states to continue abiding by their own marijuana rules so long as the federal government's eight priorities on the issue are not violated. [continues 307 words]
Connecticut has devised a sensible policy for the use of medical marijuana, and it's time for federal law to fall in line with state attitudes. Connecticut is pursuing a measured and prudent approach to the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes. The process continued this week when the General Assembly's Regulations Review Committee approved the rules covering production, dispensing and the purchasing of medical marijuana. Connecticut is putting safeguards in place to prevent the loosely regulated approach seen in other states, California among them, which comes close to de facto legalization. In California doctors have been able to prescribe pot to treat most anything and its 2,100 dispensaries face little control in the way they do business or obtain the drug. [continues 293 words]
HARTFORD - The packed hearing room erupted in cheers Tuesday when Regulations Review Committee members approved rules for how medical marijuana will be grown and dispensed in Connecticut. The voice vote came after more than two hours of questions about how the federal government would view the state's decision to regulate the industry and change how marijuana is classified. The vote clears the way for the Department of Consumer Protection to license three to 10 marijuana producers and dispensaries by January. [continues 77 words]
Inside) ORDER BY 1-- KpVK Connecticut
