Possessing Small Amounts Would Be Legal

ANNAPOLIS (AP) - A bill to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana is set to go back before the state Senate on Monday after it was passed by the House of Delegates.

The House voted 78-55 on Saturday for the bill, which would eliminate criminal charges for possessing less than 10 grams - or about one-third of an ounce.

The Senate has already approved a similar measure, but changes made by the House will require Senate approval to pass the bill before the legislative session ends at midnight Monday.

[continues 511 words]

Delegates Vote to Approve Decriminalization Measure

The General Assembly moved Saturday to dramatically change Maryland's drug laws as the House of Delegates joined the Senate in voting to make possession of small amounts of marijuana a civil offense punishable only by a fine.

The House voted 78-55 to approve a measure substantially similar to the decriminalization bill overwhelmingly passed by the Senate last month. Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller said his chamber would agree to the House's relatively minor changes and send the bill to Gov. Martin O'Malley.

[continues 1210 words]

Annapolis, Md. (AP) - The Maryland House of Delegates voted Saturday to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana.

The House voted 78-55 for the bill. It would eliminate criminal charges for possessing less than 10 grams - or about one-third of an ounce.

The Senate has approved a similar measure, but changes made by the House will require Senate approval to pass the bill before the legislative session ends at midnight Monday.

The Senate had proposed a maximum penalty of $100. The House bill raises the penalties to $250 for a second offense and $500 for a third offense.

[continues 173 words]

Maryland lawmakers passed bills Saturday that would raise the state's minimum wage to $10.10 an hour by 2018 and decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana, acting on two high-profile measures in the waning days of this year's legislative session.

On a vote of 34 to 13, the Senate positioned Maryland to become the second state in the nation to embrace a minimumwage goal set by President Obama and hand Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) a victory on his top priority in his final 90-day session. The House, meanwhile, voted 78 to 55 to impose civil fines, rather than criminal sanctions, on those caught with less than 10 grams of marijuana - an outcome that would defy the will of a powerful committee chairman who wanted a study of the issue instead.

[continues 917 words]

The Maryland Legislature is forgetting one key element in their efforts to fight drug abuse in the state: increased treatment.

During the current General Assembly session, legislators introduced and debated bills on legalizing marijuana, decriminalizing marijuana, medical use of marijuana, giving clean needles to addicts, giving the anti-overdose medicine Narcan to addicts as well as the traditional bills on taxing tobacco and increasing penalties on drunk drivers. The rationalization for many of these bills was that we need to treat the drug problem as a medical issue, not a criminal one.

[continues 257 words]

House Panel to Take Up Decriminalization Today

A powerful General Assembly committee chairman and advocates of decriminalizing marijuana have reached a tentative deal that would make possession of small amounts of the drug a civil offense with no jail time, according to sources familiar with the plan.

The bargain, which would need the approval of the full House Judiciary Committee on Saturday morning, would avert an expected floor fight and pave the way for a bill to reach Gov. Martin O'Malley's desk before the legislative session ends Monday night.

[continues 655 words]

House Panel's Plan Challenged

Decriminalization to Be Debated Saturday

Members of the Maryland House of Delegates on Friday moved to resurrect a bill that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, just days after the measure was scut

tled in committee.

Del. Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr. (D-Baltimore) offered an amendment on the House floor that would undo an attempt by the Judiciary Committee to set up a task force to study the issue. Debate on the measure was put off until Saturday at the request of the committee's chairman, Joseph F. Vallario Jr. (D-Prince George's), who has been a staunch opponent of decriminalization.

[continues 784 words]

House Committee's Chairman Holds Bills Back; Task Force Formed

A committee in Maryland's House of Delegates on Wednesday killed legislation that would have legalized or decriminalized the use of marijuana in the state, choosing instead to form a task force to study the issue.

The only major initiative on marijuana still alive in the General Assembly is a bill to revise the state's medical marijuana law to make the drug more accessible to patients.

The Maryland Senate approved a decriminalization bill in mid-March, for the second year in a row.

[continues 330 words]

Last week, the Maryland Senate approved Senate Bill 364, which would "decriminalize" possession of marijuana. The Senate bill, which passed 36 to 8, would remove criminal penalties for possession of less than10 grams of marijuana and impose small civil fines, with a provision for the judge to order drug education only after the third offense. The bill has gone to the House of Delegates, where a hearing is scheduled for today.

One could argue that people whose only crime is smoking or possessing a small amount of marijuana should not be punished with an arrest record, which could destroy their chances of getting a job and other benefits later in life. Those at Project SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana) - a national organization led by Kevin Sabet, a former senior adviser for the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy, and former congressman Patrick Kennedy - are of this mindset. They argue that although rational drug policy should no longer rely on the criminal justice system to address lesser offenses, we should be doing all we can to discourage marijuana use.

[continues 547 words]

The Maryland legislature is forgetting one key element in their efforts to fight drug abuse in the state: increased treatment.

During the current General Assembly session, legislators introduced and debated bills on legalizing marijuana, decriminalizing marijuana, medical use of marijuana, giving clean needles to addicts, giving the antioverdose medicine Narcan to addicts as well as the traditional bills on taxing tobacco and increasing penalties on drunken drivers. The rationalization for many of these bills was that we need to treat the drug problem as a medical issue, not a criminal one.

[continues 192 words]

Nearly 100 medical marijuana dispensaries could open in Maryland under a bill approved Tuesday by a Senate committee.

The Judicial Proceedings Committee voted 10-1 to create a medical marijuana program significantly different from the version approved by the House of Delegates. The House plan calls for 10 licensed pot growers, which would also operate all dispensaries.

Senators said they worried the House version would create a monopoly of pot growers who could control prices and wield considerable political power. The senators' bill calls for growers and dispensaries to be separate, and requires at least 94 dispensaries to be operated across the state.

[continues 54 words]

The Senate passed legislation Thursday that would give Marylanders with serious medical conditions access to marijuana if it is recommended by a specially licensed physician.

As amended in the Senate, the bill is significantly different from the version passed by the House. The Senate bill, which passed 45-1, takes a much less restrictive approach to the number of licenses for growers and distributors of marijuana, which the House had restricted to 10.

The Senate version has no limit on the number of growers and calls for at least 94 distributors to be spread across the state. The Senate, motivated by concerns of a monopoly with the House approach, separated the growers from the distributors.

[continues 79 words]

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.

[continues 838 words]

(AP) - The Maryland House of Delegates has passed by a wide margin a measure to make the state's medical marijuana law effective.

The House voted 123-13 on Monday for the bill, which now goes to the state Senate.

The measure makes a significant change to a state law passed last year by allowing certified doctors to recommend that their patients receive marijuana for medicinal purposes. The current Maryland law has stalled, because the framework requires academic medical centers to run the programs, and none has stepped forward.

Delegate Cheryl D. Glenn, Baltimore Democrat who was a leading sponsor of the measure, said it applies only for patients with debilitating illnesses. She said it's tightly restricted with no allowance for drug use for recreational purposes.

[end]

The Maryland House of Delegates approved legislation Monday intended to make it possible for patients to use medical marijuana, which was legalized last year but remains unavailable in the state.

Delegates voted 127 to 9 to allow "certified physicians" to discuss the option of medical marijuana with patients and then recommend its use. Those patients or their caregivers could obtain a 30-day supply from a licensed grower. The legislation now heads to the Senate, where approval is expected.

The bill was one of dozens approved by the House on Monday during a marathon meeting ahead of a "crossover" deadline, after which legislation that has not been approved by either the House or the Senate has longer odds of being passed before the legislative session ends in early April.

[continues 838 words]

Possession of small amounts of marijuana would be treated as a civil offense rather than a crime under a bill that passed the Senate on Friday.

The vote was 36-8. The measure now goes to the House of Delegates, where similar legislation failed to get out of committee last year.

Under the bill, anyone caught with 10 grams or less of the drug would be issued a civil citation and fined up to $100. Juveniles would be required to appear in court and could be ordered into drug treatment, as could adults receiving their third citation.

[continues 200 words]

Small Amounts Would Be Handled Like Traffic Ticket; House Will Weigh in Next

The Maryland Senate on Friday approved a bill that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. The bill now goes to the House of Delegates, where its prospects are uncertain.

The Senate bill, which passed 36 to 8, would remove criminal penalties for possession of less than 10 grams of marijuana and impose a civil fine of $100. Violators would receive citations similar to traffic tickets; they could either pay the fine or request a hearing in District Court.

[continues 498 words]

Bill Could Hamper Employers Who Want to Drug Test Workers, Kelly Says

ANNAPOLIS (AP) - Maryland's marijuana prohibition hurts more people than it helps, a veteran narcotics investigator told lawmakers Thursday. But he said police want to keep it illegal because drug enforcement is part of their professional culture.

"It has become our identity," Neill Franklin said. "Losing that identity is a hard pill to swallow. I had to do it."

Franklin worked with the Maryland State Police and the Baltimore Police Department for a total of 33 years. He now leads the organization Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.

[continues 285 words]

It's time to stop marijuana prohibition in Maryland. After years of misinformation and propaganda, the federal government has an entire generation believing that marijuana is as harmful as heroin or cocaine.

The facts speak for themselves: there has never a recorded death from marijuana overdose. How many friends and family members do we know who have had their lives ruined by alcoholism? If alcohol is so readily available and yet so damaging, why is a mostly harmless substance like cannabis still illegal? Why are we letting the government tell us what we can do and cannot do over a simple plant?

[continues 77 words]

An NAACP leader, a former Maryland State Police major, a candidate for governor and a mother seeking to help her son with epilepsy converged Thursday on Annapolis to support more liberal marijuana laws.

A number of bills, backed by lawmakers from a range of philosophical backgrounds, are moving through the General Assembly this year as a broader swath of the electorate has embraced legalizing or decriminalizing the drug.

Roughly 100 people rallied Thursday outside the State House to show support for a Colorado-style system to legalize marijuana, an idea that got a hearing later in the day. Also Thursday, a key committee approved a bill to loosen restrictions that some say have hampered the state's nascent medical marijuana program.

[continues 944 words]