Connecticut Legislature Approves Medical Marijuana; Governor Expected to Sign

Connecticut's State Senate voted 23-to-13 Saturday to legalize marijuana for medical use, making it the 16th state (along with the District of Columbia) to disagree with the feds that the plant has no therapeutic use.

Under HB 5389, Connecticut's system would be much more regulated than California's, requiring licenses and the diagnosis of specific diseases in order to qualify for a prescription:

"Debilitating medical condition" means (A) cancer, glaucoma, positive status for human immunodeficiency virus or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity, epilepsy, cachexia, wasting syndrome, Crohn's disease, posttraumatic stress disorder, or (B) any medical condition, medical treatment or disease approved by the Department of Consumer Protection pursuant to regulations adopted under section 14 of this act;

Connecticut's House of Representatives approved the bill in April. According to the Associated Press, Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is expected to sign it into law.

Below, reason.tv provides some firsthand perspectives on the medical value of marijuana.

Comments

[SIV]

posttraumatic stress disorder
This one should be easy to fake for you Nutmeg-Staters.

[SIV]

But you need a license so kiss those 2nd Amendment rights goodbye.

[sloopyinca]

When will a state's governor say he will prosecute any state or local police officer that assists the Feds in any way that infringes on the legal right his/her state's citizens have to grow, sell or purchase MJ? Only then will we get the Fed's boot off peoples' necks when it comes to this issue.*

Too bad almost every cop in the world signs on just to kick doors in. Justice is the furthest thing from their mind when the seek out a job that gives them almost unlimited and unchecked power.

*I would think obstruction of justice would be a good starting point for the charges. As would misallocation of resources, false arrest and imprisonment, B&E, etc...

[TeamBarstool]

I've been waiting for a dispensary to employ off duty local cops for security.

[sloopyinca]

Yeah, I wouldn't go anywhere near a dispensary with an off-duty cop there. (I don't smoke pot, so it wouldn't come up anyway.) Call me paranoid, but I'd figure they were just there collecting info on patients so they could keep them on a list. IIRC, they've done that recently with people who go into hydroponic equipment sellers. With dispensaries it could only be worse.

[Robert]

Better to employ on-duty police, and not just for security. Officers engaged in enforcement of a state or local law regarding controlled substances are exempt from the requirement of federal registr'n to distribute them.

[Mr. FIFY]

Hell, sloop, they probably collect info on people who just stop and look at the storefront, let alone walk in the door.

[sloopyinca]

Probably? Probably?

[Mr. FIFY]

I know, I know... I was trying to be charitable with my words, when I should have been niggardly.

/raaaaaaaacist

[Francisco d Anconia]

I've got a question.

Are the Feds knocking down the doors of the dispensaries in places like CA? Last year the Feds swept through MT and arrested anyone having anything to do with MM. Is that happening everywhere, or is it as I suspect, that the jack boot fell on a state where the small population wouldn't sway elections? Needed to make an example, he did!

I feel othered.

[sloopyinca]

Are the Feds knocking down the doors of the dispensaries in places like CA?

Yes. As a matter of fact, they raided three locations in Santa Barbara just this past week. And as a coup-de-grace, they gave them all asset forfeiture notices. Linky here!

And here's a NYT story detailing some of the Obama admin's antics.

Just this week, Nancy Pelosi, of all people, decried the admin's crackdown on med MJ operations. And when the admin has lost that crazy-ass, they've really gone over the edge.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Okay, at least I feel less othered.

I guess it's becoming so commonplace it doesn't make national headlines. Or the media won't cover it because it clearly catches their darling in a lie.

[Mr. FIFY]

But do you feel less microaggressed?

[Obese American]

We're in the death throes of cannabis prohibition. As soon as Team Blue is out of the White House, the Democratic congresscritters will no longer feel it necessary to back it, since their craven pandering will lead them back to supporting their constituents' desire to end it.

[Mr. FIFY]

Nice move on their part, but Obama's goons will just shout the battle cry of "Fuck you, that's why" and use their Awesome Commerce Clause Powers - and SWAT gear - to put down this insurrection.

[Mr. FIFY]

Well, France is on the road to fucked... they just elected a socialist to replace Sarkozy.

Behold, the stoopid:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....89482.html

[wareagle]

not sure if this is surprising. Sarkozy was threatening the freebies; Hollande is promising to tax the shit out of the rich. Wonder what country will benefit from the soon-to-come French exodus.

[Mr. FIFY]

I'll bet DU is already soaked with electronic semen over this news... those dumbfucks LOVE it when a socialist takes over a country.

[Mr. FIFY]

I was right, but then again it's not exactly Newcular Rocket Surgery:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014114555

[Mr. FIFY]

Moar stoopid:

http://www.carolinajournal.com.....ml?id=8992

Sorry if Reason covered this already; I just now found it. Disgusting what's happening to that guy.

[sloopyinca]

If you read his blog, it looks like he complied with the state's wishes but only temporarily. He is vowing to fight for his 1A Rights and keep giving free advice.

He really needs to openly challenge these assholes to arrest him. He then needs to start a campaign on jury nullification so this idiotic infringement on his rights can be stricken from the books forever.

[Mr. FIFY]

I looked at it, and it's yet another example of a prosecutor making an example of someone who isn't harming anyone. Fuck that shit.

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[Mr. FIFY]

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[Michael Ejercito]

How do state bans on marijuana not violate the constitutional right to privacy, per the Supreme Court's decision in Griswold and Roe?

[Groovus Maximus]

Commerce Clause, it looms large.

Besides, I've never seen a baby born with cannabis in either orifice. Remember, there is only privacy where the vaginal triangle and anal area converge. Everything else is up in the air, and it is up to individual states to determine privacy guarantees.

Because there is no specified, explicit, discrete right to privacy like in WA's state constitution, for example, SCOTUS has malleability in this area, since the MJ regulation obviously is under the scope of commerce.

/sarc

See also: The Raich and Wickard Decisions.

[??? ??????]

nice