Pubdate: Tue, 14 Feb 2012
Source: News Journal, The (Wilmington, DE)
Copyright: 2012 The News Journal
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/1c6Xgdq3
Website: http://www.delawareonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/822
Authors: Chad Livengood and Doug Denison

MARKELL U-TURN ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISAPPOINTS PATIENTS

Governor Stops Implementing Law That Legalizes, Regulates Use

Diane Jump's daily regimen of cervical cancer medication includes 
packing a small pipe with marijuana, flicking her lighter and 
inhaling the smoke.

The 50-year-old Pike Creek woman gets relief from the nausea and 
nerve pain caused by her chemotherapy treatments and other medicines.

"I don't smoke because I want to get high," Jump said. "I smoke 
because it works. It's the only thing that works. ... It's my medication."

Jump's elation from Delaware's legalization of medical marijuana 
faded Sunday after The News Journal first reported that Gov. Jack 
Markell has halted implementation of the nine-month-old law. The 
governor cited concerns that state workers could face federal 
prosecution for inspecting and collecting licensing fees from 
nonprofit medical-marijuana distribution centers.

Terminally ill Delawareans who lobbied hard for passage of the law 
reacted with anger and disappointment Monday to Markell's decision to 
abandon the regulation-writing and dispensary licensing. Delaware's 
law does not allow for home-growing of marijuana so possession by 
people like Jump remains illegal.

Some believe Markell too quickly caved under veiled threats of 
potential prosecution by U.S. Attorney Charles M. Oberly III.

"Delaware has the strictest law in the country for medical marijuana 
and that's one reason why Governor Markell shouldn't bat an eye," 
said Chris McNeely, 48, of Dagsboro. "For him to even bat his eyes 
and not try to implement it is ridiculous. He should be fighting for 
us. Not stopping us."

McNeely was hoping to obtain legal marijuana to give him an appetite 
to treat his failing digestive system, which has degraded after years 
of taking opium-based painkillers for a broken neck and back injury.

"I can't take those for pain anymore because of my stomach," McNeely said.

A change in approach toward large-scale medical-marijuana growing 
operations by the U.S. Department of Justice caused the Democratic 
governor to halt the program, Markell spokesman Brian Selander said.

"The governor is not going to put state employees actively in the way 
of legal jeopardy," Selander said.

But other states, including Maine and New Mexico, have successfully 
implemented tightly regulated medical-marijuana laws without 
interference from federal prosecutors, said Karen O'Keefe, director 
of state policies at the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C.

"[Markell] should reconsider," O'Keefe said. "It would be 
inconceivable that the federal government would actually prosecute a 
state employee." Political reaction

Markell's decision was a predictable outcome for some legislators who 
were skeptical of Delaware having two marijuana laws to begin with.

"I supported it, but I knew the feds were going to take over. I tried 
to explain that to the authors of the legislation," said Rep. Dennis 
P. Williams, D-Wilmington North.

Rep. Ruth Briggs King was one of 14 House members who voted against 
the bill last May. Oberly's stance that individuals who grow, 
distribute and sell marijuana could be prosecuted under federal 
controlled-substance and money-laundering statutes was not 
surprising, Briggs King said.

"When I heard that, it was deja vu, because one of my arguments and 
concerns last year when we were debating the bill was the idea that 
the federal government stated this is illegal activity," said Briggs 
King, R-Georgetown. "While it may have been well-intended, we have 
spent a lot of time and effort and resources only to find out what we 
sort of knew from the beginning -- that the activity was prohibited 
under federal law."

Markell signed the Medical Marijuana Act in May, making Delaware the 
16th state to decriminalize the drug for medicinal uses. The law 
allows physicians to recommend marijuana use for patients suffering 
from cancer, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral 
sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer's disease and post-traumatic stress 
disorder. To appease some physicians, lawmakers removed glaucoma, 
Crohn's disease and early stages of hepatitis C from the list of 
conditions that would qualify for medical marijuana.

Some lawmakers who supported the bill were unhappy to learn Markell 
has stalled implementation until further notice.

"I was pretty surprised by it, and I was extremely disappointed," 
said Rep. Nick Manolakos, R-Limestone Hills. "I see it as a setback 
for people who have been waiting and who have a legitimate use for 
medical marijuana."

Manolakos, one of four House Republicans who voted in favor of the 
bill, said he asked the administration for an update on 
implementation as late as last week, but he received no replies.

"Many of us had been asking questions about where we were in the 
process, and we weren't getting a lot of information back," he said. 
"You would have thought there would have been an effort to reach out 
to people who are in support of this to let us know where we were going."

Sen. Harris McDowell said the effort to make medical marijuana 
available to Delawareans should move forward despite the fact that 
"some bureaucrat in Washington says we shouldn't."

McDowell, D-Wilmington North, said the administration needs to look 
at states where medical marijuana is legal and the federal government 
has left things alone.

"I'm not ready to just throw in the towel," he said. "We should look 
carefully at ways to get around it."

Replacement law?

Manolakos said he'll consider drafting a bill that lets 
medical-marijuana users grow their own, hopefully sidestepping 
federal efforts to crack down on moneymaking distribution networks.

"Growing your own might be one way to get around the whole dispensary 
notion," he said. "I would be interested in pursuing legislation to 
allow cultivation."

Earlier drafts of the Medical Marijuana Act provided for home 
growing, but that language was stripped from the bill amid concerns 
about abuse and criminal activity.

But terminally ill people don't always have the time, resources, 
energy or green thumb to cultivate their own cannabis, Jump said.

"Who wants to deal with that?" Jump said Monday from her Pike Creek condo.

Rep. Helene Keeley, lead House sponsor of the legislation, said she's 
still considering how to proceed in light of Markell's decision. "I 
think what we want to do is make sure we don't close all doors just 
yet," said Keeley, D-Wilmington South.

Perhaps state agencies and employees could be better insulated from 
the distribution activities that drew specific mention in Oberly's 
letter, Keeley added.

"Is there a way to do this without involving a state agency?" she 
said. "When it comes to state employees, we do not want to burden 
them or make them susceptible to jail time, but if an investor wants 
to go forward and help these patients that are in such severe pain... 
that's an investment people make every day in the stock market."

Williams said Delaware should do nothing on the medical-marijuana 
front until the federal government changes its stance.

Pressing ahead in spite of Oberly's warnings would be "sheer 
arrogance," Williams said.

"Until they tell us we can do it, I don't think we should be trying," 
he said. "I don't want to be visiting anyone in prison."
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