Members of the Connecticut General Assembly decided 95 to 51 last week in favor of legislation to allow for the limited use and distribution of cannabis as medicine. Democrat Gov. Dannel Malloy also backs the measure.
As approved by lawmakers, the Palliative Use of Marijuana Act mandates the state to license a limited number of producers to cultivate cannabis for therapeutic purposes. Qualified patients under this act would be required to obtain their cannabis via licensed pharmacies, which would obtain permits to dispense the substance from the state Department of Consumer Protection.
The measure now goes before the Senate, which has only limited time to act on the bill.
According to a 2012 statewide Quinnipiac University Poll of over 1,600 residents, 68 percent of voters endorse the measure. Pollsters reported, “There is no gender, partisan, income, age or education group opposed” to legalizing marijuana as a physician-recommended therapy.
If enacted, Connecticut will become the 17th state since 1996 to allow for the limited legalization of medicinal cannabis. It will be the fourth New England state to do so.
For more information on Senate Bill 409, please visit NORML’s ‘Take Action Center’ here: https://capwiz.com/norml2/issues/alert/?alertid=61250041 or contact Connecticut NORML at: https://norml.org/ct/item/connecticut-norml
