Medical Marijuana Considered in CT

According to William Weir’s article in the Hartford Courant, the General Assembly’s judiciary committee passed a bill on April 5 allowing patients with specific medical conditions to grow marijuana.

This bill passed 34-10 and now the Senate will review it. The article states that a patient must have cancer, glaucoma, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease or some “debilitating medical condition” to be eligible to grow a limit of four marijunana plants. With a signed certification from their doctor, a patient could not get in trouble with the law when it comes to possessing this drug.

You can read the rest of the article here: http://www.courant.com/health/connecticut/hc-weir-medical-marijuana-0406-20110405,0,7390437.story

Many positive arguments have been made about legalizing marijuana. For one, it is said that it could improve the economy if it is regulated because the government would have control over the distribution. Since they would be selling it as opposed to drug dealers on the down-low, they would make a profit. In addition, since patients who need medical marijuana can’t get in trouble for possession, the state would save money because there would be less people put in jail for using the drug.

College students have many differing opinions about the legalization of marijuana. Here at CCSU, we have a club called NORML which stands for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Many students have been hoping for a change in legislation when it comes to marijuana, and legalizing medical marijuana would be a step in the right direction. Sophomore Jen Glifort thinks that marijuana should be legalized.

“It isn’t addictive, like many painkillers,” said Glifort.

Colleen Cordner also agrees that this drug should be legal.

“I think legalizing it would lessen the allure for a high number of people. Also, considering the fact that alchohol and cigarettes are both legal, I think pot is in roughly the same category and should be legalized in a controlled manner in the same way,” said Cordner.

CCSU alum Alan Kagan thinks that marijuana is not as dangerous as some other substances.

“More crimes and accidents SEEM to happen due to high alcohol levels or use of other drugs. Not that marijuana is much safer, but it does not lead to as many problems as underage drinking or heavier drug use,” said Kagan.

Some people, like Jess Dean, believe that only medical marijuana should be legalized.

“Recreational [marijuana] should not be legal but the penalty should be lessened because it’s dumb to have a lot of people in jail for that,” said Dean.

There are also people on campus who are opposed to legalizing marijuana altogether. CCSU student Samson Hampton doesn’t think that the positives of legalization outweigh the negatives.

“It’s not the pot that’s the problem. It’s the dumb, dangerous stuff people do while they’re high. It’s the bad choices people make,” said Hampton.

It seems like the issue of legalizing marijuana will always cause differences in opinion and will bring up even more issues. If you ask me, the fact that legalizing medical marijuana is currently a possibility and some states (like Massachusetts) have already decriminalized possessing it for personal use, complete legalization will happen at some point.

No Jobs/Health

So I spent most of spring break job searching, and of course there's barely anything in my field. Unfortunately the jobs I really want are 1.5 to 2 hours away, some in CT and some in NJ...not my desired destination. However, I don't want a job I like in CT or I'll never move away! So I'll find something, hopefully. I'm not qualified for most of them since I don't have 1-3 years of experience because I'm just graduating...but I'm applying anyway. Can't hurt, right? Worst case scenario is I find a clerical job somewhere in Hartford and try to volunteer or get some kind of experience at a newspaper, even if I'm not paid for it. Then when I job search in Boston I'll have some experience to add to my resume. This week I'm having my resume checked by the career dept at school, then I'm applying to all of these places. Fingers crossed!

In other news, I've been trying to eat healthy. Today is the first day of week two. I want to lose some weight before summer even though everyone tells me I don't need to. I really do, I'm the only one who really sees my belly, haha. And it can't hurt to eat better. I'm excited and hope that I see results. My boyfriend is doing the same so we can push each other to eat right and exercise! The best healthy snack ever is carrots and hummus. Gonna go eat some now!

The Death Penalty

Today, I read an article called “Victims’ Family Members Want Capital Punishment Repealed” on Courant.com. This immediately caught my eye because the death penalty has always been a controversial issue that I’m interested in. I am a believer in the death penalty, even though so many people disagree with it. I understand that it’s cruel, but so is purposely taking a life. I think that getting a lethal injection is less pain that many victims have endured. It wasn’t fair that they were murdered and I think the only retribution is to sentence those murderers to death. I know it’s unethical for the justice system to play God, but looking at our history, people have been killed for crimes less than murder. Of course that wasn’t right, but it just seems logical to me that if someone rapes and murders a child then they don’t deserve their life. We all know that the justice system can be wrong at times, but it takes a lot of factors and evidence for someone to actually get the death penalty. And in some cases, like the Cheshire murders, we know that Steven Hayes knowingly committed a heinous crime. For that he was given the punishment of losing his life as well. How could we allow him to live?

I bring up the Cheshire murders because people who have lost loved ones to someone’s cruelty, like William Petit, will be affected by the article I mentioned above. According to the article, over two dozen families (76 people) of murder victims signed a letter asking for the death penalty to be repealed. Their reasons include that the money we spend to put criminals on death row and execute them would be better spent on victims’ services, that life is sacred, and that the excessive appeals for criminals will only cause victims’ families more pain. The opponents of the death penalty also argued that most families of murder victims will never actually see the murderer receive lethal injection because the appeal process takes so long.

I understand the points that the families brought up on why the death penalty should be repealed, but I also think that it’s unfair for them to try to represent every family of a murder victim. Just because they don’t like the death penalty doesn’t mean that it doesn’t bring solace to others whose loved ones were slain. Petit believes that the death penalty is a just punishment for his family’s murderers. Of course, he shouldn’t represent every victim’s family either. However, it should be taken into account that each case is different and that the death penalty helps some people heal and feel that there is such a thing as justice.

             If the death penalty is repealed at some point, I think this will change the face of the justice system as well as cause uproar in our society.