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Medical
Marijuana Passes Senate, Awaits Governor's Approval
BY
MARIA TSIGAS
Capital
News Service—ANNAPOLIS
A
medical marijuana bill that would minimize penalties for chronically
ill patients caught using the illegal drug has made it to
the governor for the first time in four attempts.
The Maryland
Senate passed a medical marijuana bill on March 26, exactly
a week after the House approved an identical bill. And now,
the only hurdle left is
for Gov. Robert Ehrlich to sign it into law.
The governor
has not taken a position on the bill, but he supports the
concept, said his spokesperson Henry Fawell.
The hour-long
debate before the vote had proponents focusing on compassion,
while opponents argued the bill was merely "foot-in-the-door
legislation" that would lead to the legalization of marijuana.
The bill
passed on a 29-17 nonpartisan vote, with eight Democrats and
nine
Republicans voting against it.
"This
issue cuts across all of our aisles and ideologies . . . and
geographies," said Sen. David Brinkley, R-Frederick, who was
diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, a type of lymphoma, in 1989
and is in remission.
The bill
that passed was very different from the original bill, which
called for the Board of Physician Quality Assurance to oversee
a program to issue identification cards to patients who used
marijuana for medical purposes.
Now, the
bill provides an opportunity for a defendant in possession
of marijuana to introduce evidence that the drug was "of medical
necessity." If the defense is successful, the defendant would
only face a maximum $100 fine.
Senate
President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., D-Calvert, voted against
the bill to show his support for the original bill, which
he called "a very well-thought-out bill, a great bill," while
the amended version is "a lesser bill," he said.
During
the debate, supporters argued that marijuana provides relief
for cancer patients on chemotherapy braving symptoms such
as nausea and loss of appetite. It also helps those suffering
from illnesses such as AIDS, multiple sclerosis, or Crohn's
disease.
Patients
suffering from cancer or AIDS at the end of their lives sometimes
suffer "long, slow agonizing deaths. Dying is worse than the
death sometimes," said Sen. Delores Kelley, D-Baltimore County.
The most
compelling testimony came from Sen. Nathaniel Exum, D-Prince
George's,
who recounted the battle his 25-year-old daughter waged with
cancer. It ultimately claimed her life.
Her treatments
left her so nauseated she was unable to eat. Exum said if
marijuana could have helped her at the time, he would have
gotten it for his daughter. "I urge you to have compassion.
You never know when you might be in the same position," he
said, silencing the opposition.
However,
opponents, such as Minority Leader Lowell Stoltzfus, R-Somerset,
had already argued that the bill is "a guise to begin legalizing
marijuana."
"There
is nothing about compassion regarding the step we're taking—legalizing
a dangerous drug," said Sen. Larry Haines, R-Carroll. "The
Legislature is wrong in taking this position."
It isn't
right to claim that certain things are absolutely illegal,
and then make exceptions that permit them under certain circumstances—it
creates a "bifurcated system of justice," said Sen. John Astle,
D-Anne Arundel.
Under
federal law, any use of marijuana is illegal and the Food
and Drug Administration has not approved marijuana use for
any medical condition.
"If we
do have a war on drugs, can we please remove the sick and
wounded from the battlefield?" said Bruce Mirken, director
of communications for Marijuana Policy Project, a marijuana
policy reform organization in the District.
Approval,
Mirken said, represents "a historic day and a positive step"
and it is especially vindicating that Maryland is about to
pass this type of legislation right in the "backyard of the
White House."
March
2003
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