Pubdate: Mon, 04 Feb 2013
Source: Cumberland Times-News (MD)
Copyright: 2013 Cumberland Times-News
Contact:  http://www.times-news.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1365
Author: Ethan Rosenberg, Capital News Service

LAWMAKERS AGAIN PUSH MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL

ANNAPOLIS - Despite coming up short the last two years, several House 
legislators are trying again to legalize medical marijuana, while 
others are attempting to tighten restrictions on its synthetic counterparts.

Delegate Cheryl Glenn, D-Baltimore, plans to reintroduce the Maryland 
Medical Marijuana Act to the House Judiciary Committee. The bill 
would allow the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to regulate 
the distribution of medical marijuana through compassion centers for 
patients who have an ongoing relationship with a physician.

"People are suffering every day in the state of Maryland, and they 
are being subjected to going out on the streets to get the relief we 
should be providing," Glenn said.

The General Assembly has a history of diluting legislation that would 
implement a broad medical marijuana system in Maryland.

During the 2011 session, the Senate introduced a bill that would have 
allowed the Department of Mental Health and Hygiene to authorize 
marijuana growers and to create a registration program authorizing 
distribution facilities for medical purposes. Glenn tried similar 
legislation in the House last year.

Neither bill was passed in its complete form. The Senate bill was 
signed into law, but was gutted down to an affirmative legal defense 
for patients suffering from a debilitating condition. The House bill 
was watered down to an affirmative defense for caregivers, but never 
received a vote in the Senate.

The House legislation defined caregivers as an immediate family 
member or domestic partner of a patient whose debilitating condition 
prohibits them from getting their own treatment. Glenn is sponsoring 
the reintroduction of the affirmative defense for caregivers as 
separate legislation this year.

"What I want to do is have a doctor-patient relationship rather than 
a dealer-patient relationship," said Delegate Dan Morhaim, 
D-Baltimore County, who is co-sponsoring the affirmative defense 
bill. "For many people, (medical marijuana) is completely not 
appropriate, but for some it is, just like any medicine. It's not 
benign, but neither is penicillin."

Morhaim believes that if Maryland does not broaden its position on 
medical marijuana, residents suffering from severe cases of cerebral 
palsy, multiple sclerosis and other chronic illnesses may choose to 
seek treatment elsewhere.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom