cannabisnews.com: Medical Marijuana Bill Breathes Life in Annapolis





Medical Marijuana Bill Breathes Life in Annapolis
Posted by CN Staff on January 29, 2003 at 19:35:50 PT
By Patrice Dirican & Bryan P. Sears 
Source: Arbutus Times 
Controversial legislation that would allow marijuana use for the critically ill may have more than a fighting chance of passage in the General Assembly this session now that the initiative appears to have increased backing among key leaders in Annapolis.While Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has not included such a measure in his administration's bill package, the newly elected Republican has publicly expressed his conditional approval in recent days.
"He supports the concept of medical marijuana depending upon the wording of the proposed legislation," said Shareese DeLeaver, deputy press secretary for Ehrlich. "He will need to carefully review it."It is a turning of political tides that is bittersweet for the former Maryland delegate who first championed the measure, Donald E. Murphy of Catonsville, the Republican who represented Dist. 12A for eight years before he was redistricted in 2002.In his last three years in office, Murphy sponsored legislation that decriminalized marijuana possession in small amounts for patients with cancer and other specified diseases and their caregivers. Last year, the bill had more than 50 co-sponsors in the House of Delegates, which passed the legislation, but the Senate voted against it."I'm thrilled," said Murphy of Ehrlich's stand.As an ex-delegate, Murphy, who has opened his own political consulting firm, is prohibited from lobbying the Maryland legislature in the year following his departure. However, Murphy has provided assistance to his former colleagues who have taken up the cause, chief among them two health care professionals, Sen. Paula Hollinger, a registered nurse who is chair of the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee in the Senate, and Del. Dan Morhaim, an emergency room physician and a member of the Health and Government Operations Committee in the House."You can't get any more credible than that," said Murphy.Hollinger, an 11th District Democrat, will sponsor the bill in the Senate along with Sen. David Brinkley, a Republican who represents the 4th District in Frederick and Carroll counties.Dels. Dan Morhaim, an 11th District Democrat, and Al Redmer, an 8th District Republican, will sponsor an identical bill in the House.Their bill, allowing physicians in the state to prescribe the currently illegal substance, could be ready for introduction in both the Senate and the House as early as this week."We're not talking about medical marijuana as a joy drug," Hollinger said. "We're talking about allowing prescriptions under very strict circumstances."Hollinger and Morhaim said they became interested in the issue as a result of witnessing the suffering experienced by people who are afflicted with cancer and other serious diseases."Everyone sees things through their own lens," Morhaim said. "We see this through the medical lens."Redmer, who has supported past efforts to make the drug another treatment weapon available to doctors, said he has seen the debilitating effects of such illnesses first-hand. His mother survived cancer, but it claimed the life of a friend.This year's bill takes a different approach by attempting to address the matter strictly as a health issue while leaving criminal statutes alone."As a nurse, I see (the bill) as a different tact," Hollinger said. "It should be in the health code and reviewed by the Board of Physician Quality Assurance and available only under specific conditions."A draft of the bill states that the drug can be prescribed for persons who suffer from "debilitating conditions" like cancer, glaucoma, HIV, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, Crohn's Disease, or other diseases that cause patients to suffer from severe weight loss, severe pain or severe nausea.Once a patient receives a marijuana prescription, the board would automatically review the case. If approved, the patient would receive an identification card and be placed in a database made available to law enforcement agencies.After all that, the patients would still need to find a supply of the illegal drug.The law would permit patients to possess three mature or four immature marijuana plants and one ounce of usable marijuana per mature plant.The sponsors said they are hoping to avoid the pitfalls that killed the bill last year by keeping this year's offering out of the House Judiciary Committee and the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. If they have their way, the bill would heard in the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, which Hollinger now chairs. Complete Title: Medical Marijuana Bill Breathes New Life in Annapolis Source: Arbutus Times (MD)Author: Patrice Dirican & Bryan P. Sears Published: January 29, 2003Copyright: 2003 Patuxent Publishing Co. Contact: arbutustimes patuxent.comWebsite: http://www.arbutustimes.comRelated Articles & Web Sites:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Coalition for Compassionate Accesshttp://www.CompassionateAccess.org Legislators Try Again with Medical Marijuana Bill http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15314.shtmlMedical Marijuana Gets Nod of Ehrlich http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15216.shtmlGovernor Will Back Medical Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15214.shtml 
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