Pubdate: Tue, 18 Mar 2014
Source: Baltimore Sun (MD)
Copyright: 2014 The Baltimore Sun Company
Contact:  http://www.baltimoresun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/37
Author: Michael Dresser

MODIFIED MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL WINS APPROVAL FROM HOUSE

Some Doctors Would Be Allowed to Recommend Drug

Responding to growing public support for medical use of marijuana, 
the House of Delegates approved legislation Monday that would allow 
specially licensed physicians in Maryland to recommend the drug to 
patients with debilitating medical conditions.

The bill now goes to the Senate, where supporters are optimistic 
about its prospects.

The legislation would replace a system put in place last year that is 
widely regarded as a failure. That system restricted medical 
marijuana use to patients seeking care at academic medical centers, 
but none of the centers agreed to participate.

"This is a matter of life and death for our people," said Del. Cheryl 
Glenn, a Baltimore Democrat whose medical marijuana bill was merged 
with one sponsored by Del. Dan K. Morhaim, a physician and Baltimore 
County Democrat.

Under the legislation, approved 127-9, a state commission would 
license some physicians to write a marijuana recommendation for their 
patients. Morhaim said the directive would be similar to a 
prescription, but federal law prohibits calling it that.

Patients would be able to purchase the drug through state-certified 
growers. The bill would limit the number of growers to10, who would 
be chosen and licensed by an existing medical marijuana commission.

"The purpose of the legislation is to put the doctor-patient 
relationship at the center of the law," said Sen. Jamie Raskin, the 
Montgomery County Democrat who sponsored the Senate version of the bill.

Raskin pointed out that the Senate has been much more accepting of 
medical marijuana than the House.

"The Senate has been very moved by the voices of our constituents," 
Raskin said. "For many people ... it's the difference between 
constant pain and being able to make it through the day."

The use of marijuana to treat illness enjoys broad public support, 
even among those who don't favor allowing it for recreational use. A 
recent Goucher College poll found that about 90 percent of Maryland 
voters support medical marijuana.

The O'Malley administration has taken a cautious approach to medical 
marijuana use, however. The highly restrictive model approved last 
year was based on the recommendation of state health secretary Dr. 
Joshua Sharfstein. Earlier this year, Sharfstein told lawmakers it 
was "premature" to pass a new law - even though no patients have 
received the drug through the existing system.

Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown, who is running for governor, broke with 
that position and supported the legislation.

Nina Smith, a spokeswoman for Gov. Martin O'Malley, said the governor 
supports efforts to fix the system but would not decide whether to 
sign new legislation until he sees its final form.

Lawmakers heard testimony this year that marijuana can be an 
effective treatment for a wide variety of conditions, ranging from 
epilepsy to combating the effects of chemotherapy for cancer.

Among the Marylanders who urged lawmakers to revamp the system was 
Sarah Robinson of Bowie, who told her story to the Senate committee 
that will consider the House bill.

She said medical marijuana offers hope for her 9-year-old son, Mason, 
who has a terminal brain condition called lissencephaly complicated 
by a severe form of epilepsy that causes five to 30 seizures a day, 
each potentially life-threatening.

Some studies suggest that products derived from cannabis could help 
control seizures in some patients. The Epilepsy Foundation strongly 
supported the bill, and several mothers of children with severe forms 
of the disease joined witnesses with cancer and multiple sclerosis in 
testifying in favor of the bill.

Robinson said passage of the bill could be "the miracle we've been 
waiting for."

"Stopping the seizures can give him so much more quality of life and 
more time with us," she said.

Philip Gattone, president of the Epilepsy Foundation, which is based 
in Landover, called the House vote "a big step forward." He said 
there are a million Americans who have seizures that can't be 
controlled by drugs now on the market. He said there's compelling 
anecdotal evidence that cannabis can help some of those patients.

Gattone said an important provision in the bill is that physicians 
who work with epilepsy patients would be able to obtain a state 
license that would let them recommend marijuana for their patients. 
He said it's important that families be able to maintain their 
relationships with their current caregivers rather than turn to 
someone aligned with an academic center, as last year's bill envisioned.

"There's a trust issue there. There's a partnership there," Gattone said.

Morhaim, the General Assembly's only physician, said Maryland 
legislators have grown "tired of waiting for the federal government 
to show some common sense" on marijuana policy. He said the federal 
prohibition on marijuana is standing in the way of research on the 
potentially beneficial use of drugs derived from the cannabis plant. 
Scientists in Israel are doing groundbreaking research on matching 
specific strains of marijuana to individual conditions, he said.

Morhaim said the legislation calls for regulations to be drafted by 
Sept. 15. Eligible patients would be issued an identification card 
entitling them to purchase up to a 30-day supply from a licensed 
grower and dispenser. The bill would expand on the marijuana-growing 
system in last year's bill, which never got as far as awarding a 
license. Among other things, the commission would be required to 
encourage growers to cultivate strains with demonstrated success in 
alleviating specific ailments.

"There are thousands of Marylanders who can be helped on a long- and 
short-term basis," Morhaim said. "There is no excuse to let people suffer."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom