cannabisnews.com: Maryland Debates Medicinal-Marijuana










  Maryland Debates Medicinal-Marijuana

Posted by FoM on March 01, 2001 at 10:19:54 PT
By Margie Hyslop, The Washington Times 
Source: Washington Times  

Maryland senators yesterday got their first look at a proposal that would legalize marijuana for medicinal use statewide. The measure evoked a hostile response from Sen. Walter Baker, who, as chairman of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, has the power to move or hold the bill.  "We all know this bill isn't going anywhere," said Mr. Baker, Upper Eastern Shore Democrat, interrupting another senator's query on the bill. "Let witnesses put their show on."
 "In all due respect, Mr. Chairman, this bill will have an uphill battle, but it's worthy of debate," said Sen. Perry Sfikas, Baltimore Democrat.   "Ask a question if you want, but don't make a speech," Mr. Baker replied.   But Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, which advocates decriminalization, said he believes Mr. Baker's reaction could work in the bill's favor.   "I think he marginalized his own position, looked insensitive to patients and insulted his colleagues," some of whom are said to be undecided on the issue, Mr. Kampia said.   If the bill passes the 11-member committee, it likely would be a close vote.   The proposal's original sponsor — Delegate Donald E. Murphy, a Republican who represents Baltimore and Howard counties — has filed an identical bill in the House.   The House Judiciary Committee rejected Mr. Murphy's bill last year, 11-7, but several delegates who did not support it then said they were sympathetic and hoped they could vote for the bill this year. That House committee will hear the new bill today.   Under the new measure, the state health department would authorize patients to use marijuana medicinally and issue identification cards that would protect them from arrest.   Health department certification also would allow a patient — or a caregiver, if the patient were unable — to cultivate up to seven plants and prepare the marijuana for use.   To qualify, patients would have to get a physician's recommendation or provide medical records that indicate they could benefit from marijuana use.   Although decriminalizing marijuana for medicinal use in Maryland could protect authorized persons from arrest by state and local police, anyone who used or possessed it would still be violating federal law.   But several law professors and Mr. Kampia said federal agents are not enforcing marijuana laws against medicinal users or even small-scale users.   Over five years that medicinal marijuana use has been legal under some state laws, no physician has lost a license and no patient or caregiver has been prosecuted, said Byron Warnken, a University of Baltimore law professor.   Kelly Paige, manager of Oregon's medicinal-marijuana program, said the issue was controversial when that state became the first to enact a law that established a registry for legitimate medical users.   "Now it's so mainstream that Kaiser-Permanente has developed a form letter to use when registering patients for the program," Ms. Paige said.   She said a federal Drug Enforcement Administration agent calls her occasionally to check if persons are registered to use marijuana medicinally. During three years the program has been operating in Oregon, she has found reason to revoke only one registration.   After Ms. Paige spoke, legislators heard almost two hours of testimony from caregivers and patients who argued that severely ill persons who find no relief from legal medications should be able to use marijuana without fear of arrest or jeopardizing their families.   Some senators said they worried that allowing marijuana plants in the home would make it easy and tempting for children to use.   Eric Sterling, former counsel to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, said no laws now require parents to lock up dangerous prescription drugs.   "If we delay thinking somewhere there is a perfect bill, we will destroy this opportunity," said Mr. Sterling, of Chevy Chase.   "I think it's putting children at risk," said Sen. Larry Haines, Carroll County Republican.   Doug Steigler of the Family Protection Lobby agreed.   "I almost feel guilty for testifying against this bill, but there are so many problems with growing and distribution of this drug, we have to go about it in a different way," Mr. Steigler said.   Illnesses that could qualify a patient to use marijuana include cancer, glaucoma, AIDS, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and Crohn's disease.   Kathleen M. Tucker, a Takoma Park lawyer arrested last year when her teen-age daughter turned her in to authorities for growing marijuana, asked the committee to add migraine headaches, the condition from which she suffers, to the list of qualifying illnesses.   In documents circulated before the hearing, Joyce Nalepka of Montgomery County, a staunch opponent of the bill, denounced the medicinal marijuana initiative as "a fraud and a hoax" funded by "four fat-cat billionaires," including international financier George Soros.   Mrs. Nalepka argues that the effort is really an attempt to open the door to full decriminalization of marijuana for any use.Newshawk: NORML Media & CommunicationsSource: Washington Times (DC)Author: Margie Hyslop, The Washington TimesPublished : March 3, 2001Copyright: 2001 News World Communications, Inc.Contact: letters washtimes.comWebsite: http://www.washtimes.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Bipartisan Bloc Backs Legalizing Medical Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8613.shtmlDelegate Still Seeks Legal Marijuana Usehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8614.shtmlMarijuana Bill Draws Support http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8612.shtml

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Comment #13 posted by kaptinemo on March 02, 2001 at 09:45:24 PT:
Not boring at all, and it illustrates a point.
Namely, that when offered, many people don't accept. Fine. That's an exercise of freedom-of-choice. But many don't accept, not because of any fears that they may have about the drug's effects, but because of the possible outcomes of getting caught.How many would use it, if the penalties were non-existant? This point is something the antis are always shrieking their pointy little heads off about. As if most human beings were mindless, reactionary automatons, hooked on the first swallow or puff. (Or perhaps antis can be said to be guilty of such thinking because they believe the rest of humanity 'reasons' like themselves?) But how many people try alcohol or tobacco...and never do again? It would be interesting to find out.In any case, the personal testimonials one finds here also serve to illustrate a point: that the almost universal reaction to listening to government inspired propaganda after cannabis use has been a violent rejection of nearly all government pronouncements as being lacking in credibility. The antis had been warned numerous times before about 'crying wolf', and the explosion of drug use amongst adolescents during the 1990's is just the leading edge of the fallout from this particular practice. A dangerous game to play with the lives of those the antis so loudly proclaim to be oh-so-concerned about. 
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Comment #12 posted by NiftySplifty on March 01, 2001 at 22:54:32 PT
D.A.R.E. to smoke up in college.
aocp's comments made me think about how I first started partaking of the herb. I always had a "drinking is bad" attitude, and wasn't ever intoxicated on anything but naivety. I recall telling people it was stupid to drink alcohol, and when another athlete asked if I smoked said something stupid like, "I have a cousin who used drugs, so I know what happens to users." What a bunch of crap! I did have a cousin that smoked-up, but the only thing that happened was his mother got pissed. It was just an excuse for not having to address my ignorance. Most antis have this very problem. Anyway, I started sneaking into the liquor stash after I was out of high school and working. Then, started brewing beer. I worked with a guy from the Netherlands, and he was always smoking. Yet, he was always at work and spoke rather openly about cannabis. I was still a product of D.A.R.E.'s "evil weed" propaganda, but it's grip was loosening quickly. While off at college, I knew some people that smoked, and they weren't skipping classes like we drinkers did the next day. Then, I worked in a crappy factory with some engineering students during the summer break, and they talked about it. I learned that what D.A.R.E. taught me was a bunch of crap, and that one can't OD on pot and ventured out and learned more on my own. Finally, when I was afforded the opportunity to smoke, during the summer after my sophomore year, it was an eye-opener. I was like, "What the hell have I been thinking all this time?!" I didn't feel anything the first time, but the next time, I was sitting showing a friend a little music and felt my first creeper. I have found myself many times saying "There's that gravity, again." which I think many might understand.Well, I'm sorry to ramble on and on aimlessly, but when I discovered cannabis for myself, it started a whole new attitude, and actually made me think about things instead of just accepting them. That's when I started to reject Republocratism and a passion for music began.Sorry to bore everyone, but I think it's interesting about how other people started.Nifty...
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Comment #11 posted by aocp on March 01, 2001 at 18:43:48 PT:
sm247
You brought to mind something i thought about the other night...I never heard of marijuana nor did I try it till i was 15 years old but now thanks to D.A.R.E. and these stupid programs now my 8 year old son knows what marijuana is I wonder at what age he will try it???While i'm not proud of it, i didn't pick up a cigarette until i was 18 and at college. I had never been intoxicated on anything before that point. I was pretty repressed up til college.Hey, as an aside, maybe that's why they want to deny financial aid! Too many people wake up to the lies in college! Just a thought...Anyway, i kid you not ... i had no idea what MJ was until i hooked up with some friends in the dorm. "You wanna smoke with us?" "Well, i enjoyed an alcohol buzz, so what the hell..." From there, it's been very eye-opening, so to speak. Either way, my first encounter with illicits was my father (and bear in mind that i love this man with all my heart ... he's an awesome human being) throwing a time magazine at me on our way to piano lessons, giving me a page number and saying, "Read that!" Ok. So, i did. It was about some 13-yr-old coke dealer named Frog who rode the high life of expensive cars, fine women, you get the idea. My father then turned to my brother and i and said, "If i ever find out that you do that, i will throw you out of my house!" No s***.Until yesterday, i never realized that my father was my first introduction to what illicits were really all about and all because of gov't-induced paranoia. Sure, i grew up with the egg-in-the-frying-pan bit, but i never paid attention to that BS. Drugs just did not interest me. Since then, we've had lots of fun talking about his illustrious past wrt the herb. I've even gotten high with my uncle ... his kid brother. :)
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Comment #10 posted by aocp on March 01, 2001 at 18:32:19 PT:
Interesting
Does the Dutch drug policy allow any other substance currently banned in the USA - like mushrooms perhaps?Well, the Cheech & Chong movies have them going to Amsterdam and Cheech buys some shroom soup at a cafe, but (1) i don't know if that was legally correct and (2) the movie was made a while ago.Nevertheless, (yet another unfounded piece of "knowledge") i read somewhere that while Japan prohibits MJ, it allows psychedelic mushrooms to be sold openly. I've always thought that was a bit off-base. Anybody know the truth behind that?
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Comment #9 posted by Dan B on March 01, 2001 at 17:17:34 PT:
Well . . . closer to mainstream, anyway
More accurately, I'd say that the drug war debate has gone cable. Television execs usually test an idea out on cable for awhile before they let the matter go to network television, the real mainstream.But it is heartening to know that cable is at least picking up on the growing debate. And, heck, at least we have a debate now in this country. For the longest time, John Stossel and Phil Donahue were the only people who would talk about the option of legalization, and both have been labeled "wackos." Now, CNN and CSPAN are leading the way to an actual debate on the subject in the television media. Notice, however, that ABC is still airing shows in praise of Nazi marijuana hunters in the CAMP program of northern California. Little by little, though, we're seeing some change. Governor Johnson is doing a great job getting out the word, and I believe there are some positive changes on the horizon for the relatively conservative state of New Mexico. Massachusetts may also be on the road to reform, at least in the area of medical marijuana. The tide is turning in our favor. Thanks from me, too, FoM. It was good to hear what the Netherlands' Undersecretary of Health, Welfare and Sports had to say in defense of the only drug policy system in the world today that actually works. And it was fun to hear the prohibs making fools of themselves.Dan B
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Comment #8 posted by J.R. Bob Dobbs on March 01, 2001 at 16:36:59 PT
A few thoughts
  There's more than one way to ingest THC. Under prohibition, smoking it is the most cost-effective for the average user. And yet eating it has proven less harmful, as you're not inhaling burning fumes.  The "gateway theory" is a logical fallacy. It's the "If it came before it must have caused it" logic. As Carlin put it, "Mother's milk leads to -everything-!"  He seemed to use the term "soft drugs" interchangeably with marijuana/hashish. Does the Dutch drug policy allow any other substance currently banned in the USA - like mushrooms perhaps?  I loved the show - especially just days after the CNN Talkback Live! The drug war debate has gone mainstream at last!
http://www.pot-tv.net/
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Comment #7 posted by Dave in Florida on March 01, 2001 at 15:07:54 PT
C-Span
I just watched the show and found it refreshing.There were about 10 or 12 calles and all except 2 were in favor of the dutch policy. The was one caller from NC who was a typical prohibitionist who sounded like an idiot. Even the guest was smiling, I can imagine he was thinking, "what kind of idiot is this". 
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Comment #6 posted by observer on March 01, 2001 at 14:09:22 PT
Joyce 'Carrie Nation' Nalepka Strikes Again!
. . . a Takoma Park lawyer arrested last year when her teen-age daughter turned her in to authorities for growing marijuana . . .It was almost normal for people over thirty to be frightened of their own children. And with good reason, for hardly a week passed in which The Times did not carry a paragraph describing how some eavesdropping little sneak -- 'child hero' was the phrase generally used -- had overheard some compromising remark and denounced its parents to the Thought Police.-- 1984, George OrwellIn documents circulated before the hearing, Joyce Nalepka of Montgomery County,http://www.albany.edu/history/histmedia/Carrie2.jpg (picture) a staunch opponent of the bill, denounced the medicinal marijuana initiative as "a fraud and a hoax" funded by "four fat-cat billionaires," including international financier George Soros. Ok ... good. Nice coverage of propaganda theme no.1 ("The drug is associated with a hated subgroup of the society or a foreign enemy.")Mrs. Nalepka argues that the effort is really an attempt to open the door to full decriminalization of marijuana for any use.And a quick mention of prohibitionist propaganda theme # 7, too. ("Policy options are presented as total prohibition or total access."). Not bad, Joycie.Policy Options are Presented as Total Prohibition or Total AccessProhibitionists have always characterized themselves as being in a moral/religious battle against evil. This quality of the prohibitionist movements eliminated the option of compromise. The choice as they saw and presented it was total prohibition or total access to the hated drugs. It was not that other methods of controlling use did not exist or would not work; it was the idea that all usage was sinful and must be stopped. Like an ongoing morality play, this same issue gets played out-repeatedly today with a new cast of characters. As bills are introduced to lower criminal penalties for various illicit drugs, one can anticipate any number of legislators standing to attack reduced penalties as an invitation for use and a first step toward legalization of drug X.(Themes in Chemical Prohibition, NIDA, 1979, http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/History/ticp.html ) 
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on March 01, 2001 at 13:16:13 PT

It Was Good!
Thanks jAhn, I listened to the whole program and it was very good! I sure hope everyone that has real video watches it while it's still available. I'll check out MarijuanaNews too! http://www.marijuananews.com/
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Comment #4 posted by sm247 on March 01, 2001 at 12:51:08 PT

Save the children !
The reasons for stopping this bill are unfounded and the people throwing "children" into the mix need to re examine their line of thinking. Does your child get into your medicine cabinet to try all the "drugs" in there ...NO THEY DON'T.  The programs being used to educate children about drug use is causing more harm than good. I never heard of marijuana nor did I try it till i was 15 years old but now thanks to D.A.R.E. and these stupid programs now my 8 year old son knows what marijuana is I wonder at what age he will try it??? Responsible Parents who do use marijuana keep it well away from their children much more so than the average household drunk who leaves empty or sometimes half empty booze cans laying around. Not to mention cigarette ashtrays full of "butts" which is exactly how most kids try their first cigarette. The prohibition of marijuana is the root of the evil not the marijuana . God put Marijuana on earth and it is one species that man will never be able to extinct.
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Comment #3 posted by jAhn on March 01, 2001 at 10:54:44 PT

Thank You, FoM!!!
 Thank you SOooo much for posting this reference! This is a great step!! There's an article on marijuananews.com almost about the same subject...That C-Span vid.clip is REFRESHING! We are Winning!http://www.marijuananews.comIs there any way to find out if C-Span will run this video again today? I'm Eastern Time Zone! Maybe I should E-mail them?I have a question that maybe someone could answer: I've heard that C-Span is a Republican channel, but they seem to have unusual Liberation of their discussions. It almost seems as if it were run by Libertarians. Anyone?
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Comment #2 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on March 01, 2001 at 10:44:32 PT:

Democracy Fails
This article demonstrates a major failing of democracy as practiced in this country. Despite the fact that an average 70% of voters nationwide support clinical cannabis, there is almost no legislative movement, because the system is readily derailed by know-nothing ideologues and moral micro-managers. We need our voices to be heard loud and clear to counter this pervasive defect.
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on March 01, 2001 at 10:33:33 PT

Washington Journal - C-Span - Dutch Drug Policy
Dutch Drug Policyhttp://www.c-span.org/journal/08:00 am 0:45LIVE Call-InC-SPAN, Washington JournalPeter Pennekamp , Netherlands The beginning and end of this live program may be earlier or later than the scheduled times.Here is the link. They might not keep this link very long so if you are interested it's best to take the time to view it while it's available.http://video.c-span.org:8080/ramgen/ldrive/wj20010301.rm?start=1:02:28.0&end=1:47:05.0
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