READ MORE: Connecticut, United States
This May, I will celebrate living cancer free for eleven years. I'm the first of three generations in my family to survive cancer following chemotherapy and radiation. As more young cancer survivors live on, we also face new health challenges. Last month I had surgery for endometriosis, a painful reproductive and immunological disease affecting over 7 million women and girls in the U.S., leaving me with chronic pain, affecting my ability to walk and live my daily life.
We all have these stories of our own experiences, or watching friends and family suffer from debilitating illnesses for months and years. We also know the lengths we would go to ease their pain and suffering.
For this reason, support for medical marijuana is overwhelming in Connecticut.
A 2004 UCONN poll revealed that 83% of all Connecticut residents believed doctors should have the ability to recommend marijuana to their patients. Over the past three years, advocacy groups, numerous politicians, the Connecticut Nurses Association and more than 500 doctors have expressed strong support
for passing medical marijuana legislation.
Support for medical marijuana is not limited to Connecticut . Over the last ten years, twelve states have passed laws supporting safe access to medical marijuana. Seriously ill residents of Vermont , Rhode Island and Maine have access to doctor recommended marijuana, and a bill in New Jersey is likely to pass this session with 86% constituent support.
Earlier this month, Gov. Bill Richardson signed a compassionate use bill in New Mexico, making him the first presidential candidate to actively support medical marijuana. But here in Connecticut, we haven't gotten it right -- yet.
Read More
No comments:
Post a Comment