Legal recreational marijuana in Connecticut this year is looking less likely by the day, and doctors in Connecticut and seven other states are working to ensure those odds drop to zero.
On Friday, with just a few days in Connecticut’s legislative session, the Connecticut State Medical Society (CSMS) and a coalition of counterparts spanning from Massachusetts (which already has legal pot) to Ohio issued a statement urging state lawmakers to avoid “rushing to legislate.”
“One of our chief concerns is the lack of sufficient research and clinical study upon which legislators and voters are approaching this issue,” said Dr. Claudia Gruss, CSMS president.
Doctors have advocated for the federal government to move marijuana’s drug classification from a schedule I drug to a schedule II drug in order to open up further research opportunities about “the public health, medical, economic and social consequences of its use.”
Dr. Thomas Madejski, immediate past president of the Medical Society of the State of New York, said the push for legalization is the result of “a relentless push by wealthy Wall Street venture capitalists to create a new addiction industry to extract profits from all our communities but especially those already experiencing socioeconomic challenges.”
“They are particularly devious in hiding their true intentions with legitimate arguments to redress inequities in social justice and healthcare disparities,” Madejski said. “Redressing these inequities does not require expanding use of a substance with well-documented harms to our vulnerable populations, particularly with regards to accidental deaths, substance-abuse disorders and severe mental health issues.”
Doctors are not unanimous on the issue.
Dr. Hugh Blumenfeld, a Hartford family physician and member of a national group called Doctors for Cannabis Regulation, wrote in the Courant Friday that marijuana, while not harmless or advisable for use by young people, should be legal and regulated, since it’s illegal status has led to arrests and prison sentences that have “destroyed countless lives.”
Legal marijuana was one of Gov. Ned Lamont’s campaign priorities, and one shared by progressive Democrats, particularly in the House. But this week, House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz (D-Berlin) said the measure was not likely to pass this year, according to CT News Junkie.
Aresimowicz suggested that a better approach could be having voters weigh in on an amendment to the state Constitution — which is how Massachusetts and other states have done it.
