And legal medical marijuana inches ever closer to the Empire State. Earlier this morning, after nearly 10 hours of debate, the Connecticut Senate voted 21 to 13 to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule 1 drug to a Schedule 2 drug. Once Governor Dannel Malloy signs the bill (which he is expected to do) the state will join 16 other states and (not to mention DC) in legalizing the drug for medical purposes. Time to try in Albany again?

Really though, New York State's neighbors are getting increasingly pot-friendly. Medical marijuana has been approved already in New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont and Maine. And as in other states to recently approve the very old drug, Connecticut's rules are much stricter than you'll find in, say, California or Colorado. According to The Connecticut Post:

The bill would allow the state Department of Consumer Protection to set up as many as 10 secure indoor cultivation and distribution networks for people who are certified by doctors and pay a $25 fee.

Growers would have to pay $25,000 license fees and show a substantial ability to capitalize secure, indoor growing facilities. Pharmacists would have to be associated with the dispensary network to oversee distribution of the plant's dried flowers, which are often smoked or vaporized for inhalation.[...]

The bill would limit access to the drug only to patients with cancer, glaucoma, HIV, AIDS, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries, epilepsy, malnutrition, wasting syndrome, Crohn's disease and post traumatic stress disorder.

