Source: Robert Miller
Canadian Medical Marijuana Exemption 
Connecticut, US - In October, a certain set of people
-- those with chronic illnesses, such as multiple sclerosis or Crohn's
disease, or cancer patients suffering from the debilitating effects of
chemotherapy -- can become certified, and legal, smokers
of marijuana.
"That part of the law will be in
place," William
Rubenstein, state commissioner of the Department
of Consumer Protection, said in a recent interview.
Where they get that marijuana will
be, for the near future, up to them.
The state's system of growing,
distributing and selling medical marijuana -- approved by the General
Assembly last month and signed into law by Gov. Dannel
P. Malloy on June 1 -- will be a complicated business.
The regulations that will govern how
growers in the state raise marijuana and how licensed pharmacists
dispense it have yet to be written.
When they are, they'll have to pass
muster at a public hearing and win the approval of the General
Assembly's Legislative
Review Committee.
"That can take a while," observed
state Rep. Robert
Godfrey of Danbury, who voted for the medical marijuana bill.
"We hope to have the entire law up
and running sometime in 2013," Rubenstein said.
When that happens, the state will
join 16 others in what is, in effect, both a medical and a social
experiment -- whether Connecticut can successfully manage a system for
the legal sale of marijuana, which the federal government still lists
as an illegal drug.
Allen
St. Pierre, executive director of NORML
-- the National
Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws -- said there have only been
federal raids in states where there has been blatant abuse and
disregard of state regulations, notably California.
"Generally speaking," St. Pierre
said, "where people have been compliant, there hasn't been
a problem."
Many doctors now see marijuana as an
acceptable product to prescribe in the right situations.
"There are always new treatments,
new modalities coming along," said Dr. Patrick
Broderick, chairman of emergency medicine at Danbury
Hospital and president of the Western
Connecticut Medical Group.
"You don't want to be way out ahead
of everybody, but you want to be able to help your patients. If we have
another tool to help patients, that's a good thing,"
Broderick said.
Dr. Robert
Kloss, an oncologist at the Praxair
Cancer Center at Danbury Hospital and a doctor who works in hospice
and palliative care, said patients are well-informed of what's
happening in the other states where medical marijuana is legal, thanks
to the Internet and a variety of social networks.
"People are very informed,"
Kloss said.
And, he said, there's strong
anecdotal evidence -- if not rock-solid, double-blind medical studies
-- that people get relief from smoking marijuana.
Kloss said people on chemotherapy
use it to reduce nausea and as an appetite enhancer; people with
colitis, inflammatory bowel disease and Crohn's disease have reported a
improvement in bowel function through smoking marijuana; people with
multiple sclerosis say marijuana can control their tremors.
"There are receptors in the brain
that are affected by cannabinoids," he said of the chemical compounds
in cannabis (marijuana). "And these chemical agents do have
beneficial effects."
They may include anti-inflammatory
effects and effects on the immune system, Kloss said.
"There are studies in mice that show
it may have an effect in cancer cell suppression," he explained.
Dr. Peter
Rostenberg, an internist and family doctor in New Fairfield, said
he has treated people with a serious addiction to marijuana and knows
its effects.
But Rostenberg said he could see
himself prescribing medical marijuana for some of his patients.
"If it's strictly regulated, it will
be a benefit," he said.
The first laws allowing medical use
of marijuana were passed in 1996 in California, St. Pierre of NORML
said. Canada approved medical marijuana use in 2001.
Four states in New England now allow
its use -- Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine and Vermont.
St. Pierre said there has never been
a study that shows the medical use of marijuana increases the number of
auto accidents, workplace accidents or absenteeism at work.
"We've had a 15-year-long social
experiment and nothing has happened," St. Pierre said. "The sun still
rises in the east and sets in the west. The tides turn twice a day.
Nothing has changed."
Some people see the legalization of
marijuana as a business opportunity.
Bob Heffernan, executive director of
the Connecticut
Nursery and Landscape Association, said he knows several growers in
the state who have expressed an interest in growing marijuana under the
state law.
That law stipulates that there can
be no fewer than three, but no more than 10, growers in the state.
"I've had a lot of calls about it,"
Heffernan said.
That is because when marijuana is
grown for the medical market, it will have to be grown in a greenhouse
under controlled conditions.
The state's nursery industry --
which now accounts for half of the state's agriculture -- grows a lot
of plants in greenhouses.
"We'd be the logical choice,"
he said.
Heffernan said no one has experience
in growing marijuana legally in the state up to this point.
"All we can go on is the experience
of other states," he said.
That experience, Heffernan noted,
has shown it to be a lucrative business.
Godfrey said he once spoke to
Montana Gov. Brian
Schweitzer about medical marijuana.
"They're a farming state," he said.
"Marijuana is a big part of their industry."
Likewise, Peter
D'Aprile, owner of the English Apothecary in Bethel, said he is
definitely interested in the program.
"I just got a call from someone
working in a hospice about this," D'Aprile said about the availability
of medical marijuana.
"It will help people that need help,
and it will give me a new revenue stream," he said. "For me, it's a
win-win situation."
On the other hand, pharmacist Jim
Cangelosi, owner of the Brookfield
Pharmacy, said as long as it's illegal under federal law, he'll
steer clear of becoming a dispenser.
"I wouldn't want to make a big
investment, then have the feds shut me down," Cangelosi said. "I don't
run my business dealing with gray areas.
"This is a gray area."
bmiller@newstimes.com; phone
203-731-3345
Meanwhile In Canada, Health Canada allows patients to receive a goverment document exempting them from current laws directed at the general puplic..
Introduction
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Breaking Cannabis News
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Connecticut, US - Medical marijuana becomes legal in October
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