In 2007, we passed HB 6715, the Compassionate Use bill, only to have the bill vetoed by Governor M. Jodi Rell.

This was a tough loss, to be sure. We did everything we could. The amazing Compassionate Use coalition, which was co-led by our allies at A Better Way Foundation, pulled out all the stops: We secured the support of every major paper in CT. We were on left and right wing radio talk shows. We were on television. We had op-eds published. The Nurses were a major supporting group. We sent distributed thousands of fliers and support cards through HIV/AIDS, cancer, and public health networks. We held numerous press conferences and lobby days. We highlighted patients and families. We put together a Racial Justice Day rally at the Capitol that brought over 15 unlikely local ally-groups together –like those who support ending gun violence and environmental groups—to support mmj. We had clergy—including the Chaplain to the State Senate—submitting individual letters of support to the Governor. We had national figures calling and writing the Governor. There were college professors and public health professionals calling the Governor. We held an explosive press conference with Montel Williams, with over 100 community members in attendance. We enacted a hand-written letter writing campaign, letters hand-delivered every few days to the Governor for weeks. Patients were requesting meetings with the Governor every day for a month (she only took one, assigning her chief of staff—even in that meeting, they remained “on the fence”). In the two weeks after the bill passed and before the Governor vetoed it, we were clocking between 100 – 400 confirmed calls a day to the Governor’s office. Teams from the coalition were there nearly every day, standing out side the Gov’s office, requesting visits. The Governor was under siege.

But in the end, the Governor vetoed the bill. Rumors at the State Capitol suggest the Governor took her marching orders directly from the White House. You can read the Governor’s veto message here. You can read DPA’s response to the Governor’s veto message here.

We won’t let this deter us. We’re working now with a broad group of patients and allies to devise a compromise bill that we hope the Governor will sign.

The primary sponsor, Rep. Penny Bacchiochi (R-CT), stated, " The bill goes straight to the heart of the matter-keeping sick people out of jail."

Connecticut doctors and nurses are in support of this legislation bill, too. Read the CT Nurses Association resolution supporting "the right of patients to safe access to therapeutic marijuana when prescribed under appropriate supervision."

Want to help pass medical marijuana legislation in Connecticut? Contact Gabriel Sayegh at gsayegh@drugpolicy.org or 212-613-8048.