Guilford High School Student Makes Powerful Statement on Efforts to Legalize Marijuana in CT

By Jack Kramer

GUILFORD, CT – A lot of important and powerful people came to the Guilford Community Center Wednesday to talk about whether the state should legalize recreational marijuana but it was a high school junior who captured the large audience’s attention.

Gabby Palumbo, a junior at Guilford High School, and a member of Guilford D.A.Y. (Development Assets For Youth), a community group that lists reducing drug and alcohol abuse as its goal, came to the podium after a litany of politicians and experts had already given their take on the controversial topic.

When Gabby started talking, everyone listened.

Gabby told the audience that legalizing recreational marijuana “will have a huge impact, a harmful one” on younger people.

Gabby said she had five siblings, four of whom are younger, and she said legalizing pot in the state “would send the wrong message’’ to them and to all young people in Guilford and in Connecticut.

“There will be a rabid growth in usage not just in high schools, but in the lower schools,” said Gabby.

“I want to be able to live in a healthy community,” said Gabby, who implored those who will be voting on whether the state should legalize recreational marijuana “to think about the message you will be sending.”

On Wednesday night, besides Gabby, a large gathering came to the Guilford Community Center to hear from experts about the topic and to also hear the position of three area state legislators on the controversial issue.

Sen. Ted Kennedy Jr., and Reps. Sean Scanlon and Vincent Candelora comments seemed to indicate that they were all, three, leaning against voting in favor of legalization.

Eight states, including Massachusetts and Maine now have legalized recreational marijuana, along with Washington, D.C.

Senate President Martin Looney, D-New Haven, has introduced legislation in the General Assembly to have Connecticut join the list of states to embrace legalization.

Massachusetts voters approved selling recreational marijuana this past November in a close referendum vote. It is slated to begin selling recreational pot in 2018.

Looney has said the state, which is currently running a $1.5 billion deficit, would be poised to generate $50 million annually if the measure was approved.

A Quinnipiac University Poll conducted in March 2015 found 63 percent of voters support legalizing recreational pot.

Wednesday night’s community forum was organized by Project Courage, a substance abuse treatment center based in Old Saybrook that provides specialized treatment for adolescents and young adults.

Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who successfully pushed for decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana in 2011 and legalizing the medical use of marijuana in 2012, hasn’t supported legalizing recreational use in the past.

His position on legalizing recreational marijuana is: “Never say never,’’ but he’s also said that he isn’t for it, that it’s not a priority for him this legislative session and he believes legalizing it encourages its use.

The number of patients in the state of Connecticut receiving medical marijuana treatment keeps growing, now at more than 15,000. There are a total of nine dispensaries, including one in nearby Branford, licensed to dispense medical marijuana.

In the past legislative session, a bill became law giving children under the age of 18 access to non-smokeable medical marijuana.

The new law, which went into effect last Oct. 1, gives minors with severe epilepsy and terminal illnesses access to marijuana after the approval of two doctors.

Photo Credit: Jack Kramer