Pubdate: Sat, 06 Apr 2013
Source: Baltimore Sun (MD)
Copyright: 2013 The Baltimore Sun Company
Contact:  http://www.baltimoresun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/37
Author: Timothy B. Wheeler
Page: 1

MEDICAL MARIJUANA CLEARS A HURDLE

Senate Gives Bill Preliminary Approval With No Debate; Measure Passed in House

The General Assembly is poised to pass legislation that would make 
Maryland the 19th state to legalize marijuana use for medical reasons 
- - though how quickly the state's cancer patients and others might 
benefit remains in question.

The state Senate gave the legislation preliminary approval Friday 
evening without debate.

The bill, which has passed the House, would allow the legal 
distribution of marijuana by doctors and nurses through academic 
medical centers. A commission would be set up to spell out the terms 
under which it would be grown and dispensed.

The O'Malley administration, which opposed medical marijuana 
legislation last year, withdrew its objections last month, giving a 
boost to legislation that has drawn bipartisan support.

But the administration qualified its support. Officials wanted the 
flexibility to pull out of the program if the federal government 
threatened legal action over what it still classifies as an illegal drug.

With that language now in the bill, Gov. Martin O'Malley is expected 
to sign it.

Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, the state secretary of health and mental 
hygiene, called the bill a "yellow-light" approach.

"I think it's a good framework to build an approach to this 
challenging issue," he said. He said several steps remain before 
marijuana can be dispensed to those patients whose doctors believe it 
would provide some relief.

The bill's sponsor, Del. Dan K. Morhaim, a physician, called it 
"landmark" legislation for Maryland.

Eighteen other states and the District of Columbia have medical 
marijuana programs. Although Maryland has passed a law authorizing 
medical necessity as a defense against marijuana possession charges, 
it has not created a legal pathway for patients to obtain the drug.

Morhaim, a Baltimore County Democrat, said the bill would create a 
"safe and responsible" program for dispensing marijuana, and one that 
will be closely monitored for its effectiveness through the bill's 
data collection requirements.

The bill, which is expected to receive final approval Monday, has 
drawn support from medical and nursing organizations, and from 
lawmakers of both political parties.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller delivered his own endorsement 
this week. He told reporters his mother had died a "very lingering 
death" from cancer.

"If it helps people with cancer, I'm all for it," he said.

Dan Riffle, a lobbyist for the Marijuana Policy Project, which 
advocates legalizing the drug, called the Maryland bill "a baby step 
forward" and an indication that a broader shift may be occurring 
among state lawmakers in their attitudes toward marijuana. The 
General Assembly considered four bills this year that dealt with 
decriminalizing or legalizing marijuana.

But Riffle warned this bill's significance may be more symbolic than 
real unless the state's teaching hospitals get over their reluctance 
to participate.

The state's two leading academic medical centers, the Johns Hopkins 
University and the University of Maryland, have indicated they do not 
intend to get involved, according to a policy note on the bill 
prepared by legislative analysts.

"There are thousands of people in Maryland who have cancer, who have 
multiple sclerosis, HIV and AIDS," Riffle said. "If their doctors 
think marijuana can work for them, they should have access to it. 
Under the legislation passing now, the vast majority of those 
patients are still not going to be able to get access to it."

Other states do not rely on teaching hospitals to serve as conduits 
for dispensing medical marijuana.

A spokeswoman for Johns Hopkins Medicine indicated Friday evening 
that the institution is not unalterably opposed.

"Johns Hopkins is open to a conversation with the state about how a 
medical marijuana program could be implemented," spokeswoman Kim 
Hoppe wrote in an email. But she added that "right now, it would be 
premature to commit to administering or participating in such a program."

A spokesman for the University of Maryland, Baltimore said that 
institution, too, would be willing to talk about a program. But 
spokesman Alex Likowski said the university still has "serious concerns."

"Regardless of whatever the state may do, dispensing marijuana is 
still a violation of federal law, and we would not want to do 
anything that would put our employees in jeopardy," Likowski wrote in 
an email. "So at this point, while the University is not foreclosing 
on the possibility of participation ... we cannot commit to involvement."

Morhaim said he understood what he called a "cautious approach." He 
said one teaching institution, Sinai Hospital, has expressed 
interest, so "it could go faster than you think."

He added that he hoped Hopkins and UM would warm to the program once 
they saw how it was working.

"I'm confident we'll get there," Morhaim said. "I think it's the 
right way to do it. The purpose of this bill is to help patients."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom