“This is a slippery slope. It will be a mistake for our state to tell anyone that it is okay to use marijuana. We have medication to ease the suffering of those who have the medical conditions this legislation is supposed to help. Legalizing the use of this drug will send a wrong message to Connecticut citizens, especially children and teenagers, who our laws appropriately penalize for using it,” said Senator Freedman.

Senator Freedman voted against the bill as a member of the Appropriations Committee, and said she will vote no if it comes before the Senate. The bill is pending further action by the House of Representatives.

Specifically, HB 6715, An Act Concerning The Palliative Use Of Marijuana, will establish procedures for physicians to certify the palliative use of marijuana for adult patients suffering from certain debilitating conditions, such as cancer, glaucoma, HIV AIDS, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, certain types of spinal cord damage, epilepsy, and wasting syndrome. Patients could be certified for one year at a time and, they or their primary caregivers must destroy all marijuana within 10 days of the expiration of the certification, or when they indicate they no longer want to use this drug for palliative care. Certified patients and their designated primary caregivers will be required to register with the State Department of Consumer Protection, and pay a registration fee. Also, the bill calls for protecting from legal prosecution physicians, qualifying patients, and their primary caregivers who comply with the legislation.

Under this proposed legislation, the physician will be required to certify that it is against the patient’s best interest to prescribe, or continue to prescribe, prescription drugs to treat the symptoms or effects to be treated by the marijuana. The physician must explain the risk and benefits to the patient, or legal guardian. The patient and primary caregiver together will not be permitted to have more than four plants, none of which can be taller than four feet, and one ounce of useable marijuana. The marijuana must be cultivated in a secure indoor facility. Patients will be prohibited from using marijuana in public, in line of sight of anyone younger than 18 or in a way that exposes that person to second-hand smoke.

“I am very concerned about the possibility of exposing children and teenagers to drug use. While this legislation includes many well-intentioned safe guards, I am not convinced that there is any way to effectively shield children from drug use once we allow it to happen. Even when you take into account that certified patients and their caregivers would be restricted in the number of plants they could have, where they could and could not cultivate them, and where they could and could not use the drug, this legislation poses an unacceptable danger to too many people,” said Senator Freedman.