cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Bill Can't Get Out of Committee





Marijuana Bill Can't Get Out of Committee
Posted by FoM on March 30, 2001 at 17:29:47 PT
By Douglas Tallman, News-Post Staff 
Source: Frederick News Post
Legislators failed Thursday in their attempt to wring a medical marijuana bill out of a legislative committee to force a vote in the House of Delegates."Politics got ahead of better policy," said Delegate David Brinkley, R-Frederick, after the chamber voted overwhelmingly to leave the bill in the Judiciary Committee, where the chairman refuses to let lawmakers vote on it.
Mr. Brinkley invoked Rule 43, a little-used parliamentary tactic in which a bill can be brought to the House floor if 72 delegates, one more than half, agree.The vote wasn't even close at 94-30.In a strange twist, senators across the State House's central hall were debating the same maneuver, almost simultaneously. Sen. Alex Mooney, R-Frederick/Washington, tried to use Rule 43 to pull a bill calling for a two-year death penalty moratorium out of the Senate's Judicial Proceedings Committee.His effort will be decided today.In the House vote, only half of the bill's 28 cosponsors supported Mr. Brinkley's motion. Of the 30 who did support him, 22 were Republicans. Five Judiciary Committee members opposed their chairman, and voted to pull the bill out of committee.Of the 94 who opposed the motion, only eight were Republicans. Ten of the bill's sponsors opposed the motion, as did 17 members of the committee.Five the six delegates representing Frederick County supported the motion. Delegate Paul Stull, R-Frederick, did not vote either way, nor did four of the bill's cosponsors.The bill would allow terminally ill patients, if they receive their doctor's approval, to smoke marijuana without fear of criminal reprisals. Advocates say marijuana helps patients regain their appetite and fight the pain of their treatments.Without the bill, people who buy marijuana on the street run the risk of jail or confiscation of their property if they are caught.In his address to the House, Mr. Brinkley said he would offer an amendment to gut the bill, replacing its provisions with one that would give patients an "affirmative defense." If they are charged, they would be able to defend themselves in court if they could present a doctor's certification that the marijuana is necessary for their treatment.Judiciary chairman Joseph F. Vallario Jr., in urging the House to reject the motion, said his committee never held a hearing on the amendment."My suggestion to you is, the right thing to do is what we have done," he said.Mr. Vallario, a Prince George's County Democrat, also noted the Senate had already killed the same bill."We are not in the mood to deal with bills that have been killed in the other chamber," he said.Mr. Brinkley, though, noted the House passed a bill that would create a task force for public funding of campaigns. A similar measure already had been killed in the upper chamber."I would hope we'd have more a little more gumption than that," he said.House Majority Leader John Adams Hurson said his colleagues should keep the bill in committee, saying the legislature should wait until the Supreme Court has ruled on a pending medical marijuana case.Judiciary Committee member Carmen Amedori, a conservative Republican from Carroll County, said she supported Mr. Brinkley's effort even though she opposes the bill.But Delegate Lisa Gladden, a Baltimore Democrat who cosponsored the bill, voted against the motion to support her committee."This issue became the political control of the system as opposed to the confiscation of people's property if they get busted," Mr. Brinkley said.Mr. Mooney's effort to pull the death penalty bill surprised his colleagues. Because the Senate was unprepared, a decision was delayed until this morning.The measure advocates a two-year ban on application of the death penalty, while a University of Maryland criminologist studies whether capital punishment is applied unfairly to blacks.The bill is one of the top items on the agenda of black lawmakers, but Judicial Proceedings chairman Walter Baker refuses to let his committee vote on it.Mr. Mooney said he could support the bill, if the study were expanded."I agree there is a racial problem. But the real problem is economics," Mr. Mooney said. Source: Frederick News Post (MD)Author: Douglas Tallman, News-Post Staff Published: Friday, March 30, 2001 Address: 200 East Patrick Street, PO Box 578, Frederick, MD 21705-0578Copyright: 2001 Great Southern Printing and Manufacturing CompanyWebsite: http://www.fredericknewspost.com/Contact: http://www.fredericknewspost.com/contact/Related Articles:Medical Marijuana Supporters Hope To Pry Bill http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9217.shtmlPanel Kills Bill for Medical Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8885.shtml
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on March 31, 2001 at 21:49:38 PT
Registered but don't understand
Hi Everyone, I have registered but what is available I don't understand. I think it's a little over my head. Maybe in the pay version it is made easier. Has anyone seen what it's all about?Thanks
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Comment #3 posted by CorvallisEric on March 31, 2001 at 21:32:10 PT
link corrections
comment #1:The link will work only if you omit the period at the end. Try this:http://www.neuron.org/comment #2:The poll can be found at:http://www.news-sentinel.com/ns/
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Comment #2 posted by sm247 on March 30, 2001 at 18:47:11 PT
off topic sorry
I would like to thank FOM for posting these articles . the Journel Gazette which is "harry's" hometown paper hehehe I would like to add that they are doing a poll Their question is ..."Should the Supreme Court approve the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes?"please call219-424-1414 ext. 1893 then press 1 for yes or 2 for noafter which you may leave a brief comment please include some gooood addy's like cannabisnews.com or www.pot-tv.net norml.org  .... be sure an say hi to Harry too !!!!!!! This poll ends at 8am monday EST
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Comment #1 posted by Symmetric on March 30, 2001 at 18:02:50 PT:
Hi dudes
Just stopping by, and this is totally off topic, but did anyone see the cover of the March 2001 edition of Neuron Mazagine? They are at http://www.neuron.org/.Well, back to my research.
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