MARYLAND CONSIDERS MEDICAL CANNABIS DISPENSARIES DrugSense FOCUS Alert #431 - Monday, 1 February 2010 In Maryland, emergency medicine physician and state Delegate Dan Morhaim, (D., 11th District), is introducing a bill to allow the licensing of marijuana dispensaries. The proposed law will also authorize Maryland's Departments of Agriculture and Health to monitor medical cannabis in the state. In the Maryland Senate, David Brinkley of Frederick (a Republican) has signed on as the legislation's co-sponsor. The poignant letter below, in support of the medical marijuana bill, is a reminder marijuana news and letters are getting increasing traction in the media. But in a February 1 Baltimore Sun blog (and elsewhere) http://mapinc.org/url/JiaOnnrg the Sun's Kelly Brewington frets over a potential "backlash against medical marijuana." Writing letters to the editor to newspapers in Maryland and nearby areas (Virginia, the District of Columbia, etc.) about this proposed bill helps people remember the possibilities that access to medical marijuana opens up, and how it might affect those they care for. Contacts for many newspapers may be found at http://mapinc.org/media.htm Maryland state representatives may be found at http://capwiz.com/norml2/home/ and contacted directly. Updated facts on medical marijuana you may wish to use are at http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/54 Articles and opinion items about medicinal cannabis are posted daily in MAP's unique archive of drug policy news http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm . With MAP's newsbot http://drugnewsbot.org/pot you can follow news about medical cannabis right as it breaks. Pubdate: Mon, 01 Feb 2010 Source: Baltimore Sun (MD) Copyright: 2010 The Baltimore Sun Company Contact: Website: http://www.baltimoresun.com/ Author: Samuel Owings MEDICAL MARIJUANA COULD SAVE LIVES My Brother died this past November, after a three-month illness in which he was neither diagnosed or treated for any specific disease. He spent one week in a local hospital, four weeks at Johns Hopkins and didn't eat a square meal for three months. A team of the best doctors available came up empty handed regarding a diagnosis or treatment, so brother Dorsey eventually dwindled away and died. It is a known fact that medical marijuana enhances the appetite and mood, but not one doctor was able to prescribe medical marijuana, which alone might have saved Dorsey's life. Without food and proper nutrition combined with a lack of any diagnosis for a viable treatment, my brother is no longer with us. Let this be a wake-up call for everyone, including the medical field, that not every illness can be treated with a pill or a surgery. This is the 21st century. Fourteen States have legalized medical marijuana. New Jersey just legalized it, the state can tax it, and the agricultural industry will benefit from it. Now is the time to pressure our lawmakers to pass the bill being introduced by Dr./Del. Dan Morhaim to license marijuana dispensaries and authorize the state departments of agriculture and health to monitor the drug's production and distribution. I truly believe Dorsey would be alive today if a doctor had been able to prescribed him medical marijuana. Please contact your legislators and tell them to support this bill. Samuel Owings, Baltimore PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER Please post copies of your letters to the sent letter list () if you are subscribed. Subscribing to the Sent LTE list will help you to review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or approaches. To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form Suggestions for writing LTEs are at our Media Activism Center http://www.mapinc.org/resource/#guides Prepared by: Doug Snead * MAP Editor www.mapinc.org * International Drug Policy Analyst * www.drugnewsbot.org =. =.

Focus Alert Archive