Connecticut Governor Vetoes Medical Marijuana Bill

Studies conflict on how effective the treatment is.

Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell has vetoed legislation to make medical marijuana legal. She said the bill was fraught with problems and sent the wrong message to kids. Rell, a cancer survivor, said she struggled with the decision, one that many states are facing.

Medical marijuana is touted as offering relief from the nausea caused by chemotherapy and chronic pain. The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Penny Bacchiachi, said she gave her dying husband marijuana 20 years ago.

“The people who are trying to use it as medicine and want to follow a framework, they don’t want their loved ones out there buying things on the street and getting arrested … those people are affected by the lack of having this bill," she told Family News in Focus.

But Dr. Jim Small with the Christian Medical Association said there’s no need for the legislation.

“Marijuana is actually available in tablet form as a legal prescription drug," he said. "It’s called Marinol, and so there’s probably not much reason to allow it to be smoked.”

So why are some lawmakers still pushing for legalization?

"I suspect some percentage of the people who are pushing for this see it as a step toward full legalization of marijuana," Small said.

Eleven states have adopted medical marijuana laws since 1996 — most by a vote of the people.