The unanimous vote of the Regulation Review Committee sends the regulations to Secretary of the State Denise Merrill, where they immediately become law more than eight months after a panel of physicians recommended two new pain-related ailments to three dozen others.
The vote brings the total number of afflictions for adults to 38, while there are 10 for those under the age of 18. Many of the conditions on the list already include pain, but not generalized pain without a specified cause.
But compared with other states, the exact language of the bill allowing chronic pain as a reason for doctors to prescribe pot remains “exceptionally restrictive,” said Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies at the Marijuana Policy Project, an advocacy group. That’s because under the new rule in Connecticut, a patient’s pain must persist for at least six months and be resistant to other treatments.
“Today’s addition of chronic pain to the medical cannabis program is a step forward, and will provide desperately needed relief to individuals living with debilitating pain,” said O’Keefe. “However, the narrow definition forces individuals to suffer for six months before qualifying, and steers them to more dangerous treatment options.”
That includes persistent use of opiates, she and other advocates of medical marijuana say.