After decades of a failed war on drugs, consensus finally seems to be shifting toward a more sensible approach to drugs and addiction, one that uses a public health model as opposed to a criminal justice one. In October, dozens of the nation's top police chiefs and prosecutors - - including Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis - met in Washington to announce a collective effort to reduce the number of people in prison. The new coalition, called Law Enforcement Leaders to Reduce Crime and Incarceration, identified four priorities, including "increasing alternatives to arrest and prosecution, especially mental health and drug treatment." [continues 603 words]
Thank you for your front-page article on how the presidential candidates from both major parties are seriously addressing the nationwide epidemic of heroin and opioid addiction ("N.H. heroin crisis puts issue into presidential campaigns," Dec 22). Maryland is not alone in seeing a dramatic increase in drug overdose deaths and hospital emergency room patients. Our immediate challenge as a state is to support and work for the policy recommendations in Gov. Larry Hogan's task force report, which he released earlier this month. A key strategy for effectively implementing his recommendations is to make sure that all state agencies, especially the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, are working together with the medical, treatment, prevention, faith-based, nonprofit human service providers and the business communities to make sure any new programs and regulations make sense. This means these new initiatives would be evidence-based models for helping people and would be cost-effective. [continues 137 words]
Small Town Will Share in Pot Company's Profits At least two Maryland state universities are jumping at the chance to work with marijuana growers to research the medicinal application and cultivation of cannabis. A tiny Western Maryland town says it would happily accept a 5 percent share of profits from a company that hopes to operate there. As competition to join Maryland's burgeoning medical marijuana industry intensifies, some out-of-state entrepreneurs are forging partnerships with local institutions even before securing a license to operate. [continues 876 words]
After reading "The economics of heroin" (Dec. 20), I was more convinced than ever that the war on drugs has failed miserably. While it is true that we must do all we can to create employment opportunities in Baltimore and other cities with selfperpetuating pockets of poverty, "jobs" in the drug trade are not the answer. It is obvious that young people with no hope of financial success in minimum wage jobs will turn to the heroin market as a potentially lucrative career and mock those who choose another route. [continues 79 words]
Experts Want More Data on Effects of Medical Marijuana Even though Maryland is following the lead of 23 other states in setting up a medical marijuana industry, the collective experience of those states has translated to relatively little understanding of how the dozens of active substances within the plant affect health. As a result, Maryland will launch what likely will become a multimillion-dollar industry to make a psychoactive drug more available statewide without the benefit of proven information about the health implications. [continues 1288 words]
City Police to Offer Aid, Not Arrest, for Low-Level Offenders The Baltimore Police Department, working with a local nonprofit organization, is planning an experimental program that would divert low-level drug offenders to treatment and support services while allowing them to avoid arrest. The program, known as Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, is part of a shift in Maryland and across the nation from the arrest-and-convict strategy that has dominated drug policies for a half-century. "Criminalizing individuals with addiction is not the answer," said Dr. Leana Wen, Baltimore's health commissioner, who is working with police on the new program. "We must treat addiction as a disease and not a crime or a moral failing. LEAD is an innovative, evidence-based strategy that diverts people with addiction away from arrest and incarceration and instead gives them the medical treatment they need." [continues 1168 words]
Another change needed to help lower heroin addiction statistics ("Maryland's addiction problem," Dec. 3) that doesn't get mentioned is changing marijuana from a Schedule I substance alongside heroin to a lower category or removing it altogether. Both Democratic presidential contenders Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton support that change. How many American citizens were taught heroin is no worse than cannabis (by DARE, the DEA, etc.) only to find themselves suddenly addicted to it? Stan White, Dillon, Colo. [end]
People who want to buy marijuana in Maryland for medicinal purposes are probably going to have to wait until 2017, nearly four years after the state made it legal. The Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission announced Monday that it will not award licenses to grow and process the drug until sometime in the summer - and industry officials say it will take an additional four to six months after that for the product to be ready to sell. The commission said it has no target date for allowing retail dispensaries to begin operating and cannot say when marijuana will be available to patients. [continues 522 words]
For Anthony Miles, Feb. 15, 2013, was a busy day of juggling calls, setting up meetings and touting a high-quality shipment he was expecting soon. Still, he found time to put air in the tires of his Mercedes and to note how well the day was going. Raising a large stack of bills in both hands, he bragged to a companion: I just made $20,000 in one hour. Just three days later, Miles was less euphoric. He grumbled he was making "chump change" while an associate was clearing $150,000 a day "with his eyes closed." [continues 4070 words]
General Assembly Council Recommends Shorter Terms for Nonviolent Offenders An influential General Assembly panel is recommending significant changes in sentencing laws for drug use - part of a plan to imprison thousands fewer people and use the savings to help others stay out of jail. The bipartisan Justice Reinvestment Coordinating Council says the state can reduce the number of imprisoned Marylanders by 4,000 over the next decade, a decrease of nearly 20 percent. It recommends using the roughly $250 million that would be saved to invest in drug treatment programs and other services to help ex-prisoners successfully return to society. [continues 628 words]
On behalf of the Maryland Cannabis Industry Association, I would like thank to Hannah Byron for her leadership of the Natalie M. LaPrade Medical Cannabis Commission ("Byron to resign as head of Maryland cannabis commission," Dec. 2). What is truly remarkable are the strides the Maryland program has made under her leadership over the last year. Many people do not realize that the first medical cannabis bill was introduced in Maryland in 1980 by former state delegate and current Baltimore County Councilman Wade Kach. The journey for Maryland patients began in 1980, but the momentum for getting medicine into the hands of patients really gathered steam in 2014, when Dels. Dan Morhaim and Cheryl Glenn and Sens. Jamie Raskin and Bobby Zirkin won the support of 177 of Maryland's 188 legislators to approve this sensible, compassionate legislation. [continues 139 words]
Calvert County wants out of Maryland's burgeoning medical marijuana program, and some officials want to take the state to court if lawmakers say no. The county commissioners voted 4 to 1 this week to ask state lawmakers to let counties ban marijuana-growing facilities and dispensaries in their jurisdictions. County officials said they are concerned about county employees facing retribution from the federal government for participating in the program, which remains illegal under federal law. [end]
Hogan Needs to Make a Substantial Commitment to Reducing Overdoses Atask force appointed by Gov. Larry Hogan to look into how Maryland can reduce the number of heroin overdose deaths released a wide-ranging series of recommendations Tuesday that included both expanded access to treatment for addicts and tougher law enforcement measures against drug dealers and gangs. The 11 members of the panel, chaired by Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford, acknowledged that there are no quick or easy solutions to overdose deaths and that a coordinated, multifaceted approach is needed to address them. But their final report offered few specifics regarding how large an effort will be needed to make a dent in the problem or how much it would cost. [continues 471 words]
For over two decades I have provided weekly clinical care to prisoners at the Rhode Island Department of Corrections. This experience of meeting thousands of patients has confirmed the epidemiological data suggesting that over half of all current prisoners have an addiction problem. About one in seven has opioid dependence, a consistent and predictable, all-consuming, chronic relapsing and potentially fatal brain disease. The current epidemic of opioid dependence has been driven by the flooding of the market with increased prescribing of pharmaceutical opioids. Regulatory pressures that have encouraged physicians to prescribe opioids for the management of chronic pain, along with unscrupulous profit-motivated pharmaceutical industry practices, have created this problem. [continues 630 words]
Entrepreneurs want to build medical marijuana dispensaries pretty much everywhere in Maryland. Last week the state's medical marijuana commission released a geographic breakdown of the 811 dispensary applications it received this month - an uptick from preliminary numbers. More than a quarter of dispensary applicants proposed building storefronts in Baltimore City or Baltimore County, and a third of them applied to build in the Washington suburbs. The interest in those areas, however, does not mean they will be inundated with dispensaries. Only two are allowed in each of the state's 47 legislative districts. [continues 189 words]
Baltimore- Deep into a three-day heroin binge at a local hotel, Samantha told the newbie he was shooting too much. He wasn't accustomed to heroin, she said, and hadn't waited long enough since his last injection. "But he didn't listen," she said. Sure enough, he emerged from a visit to the bathroom, eyes glazed, and collapsed from an overdose. Samantha, who declined to give her last name to avoid trouble with her bosses at a nearby strip club, said she grabbed her naloxone, the fast-acting antidote to opioid overdoses. She was too panicked to place the atomizer on the end of the syringe, but her boyfriend wasn't. He sprayed the mist into the nose of the unconscious drug user, who awoke minutes later. [continues 1122 words]
A discussion of police tactics and resources isn't enough; to stop the violence, leaders need to delve into root causes At the end of April, Baltimore had recorded 73 homicides and was on pace to see 222 for the year - high by most communities' standards but about the same as the city had suffered in recent years. Since then, police have reported 229 killings in 200 days, a breathtaking pace of carnage that suggests we could end 2015 with more than 350 homicides, a figure not seen since the worst days of the crack epidemic. Something changed after that cruel month of April, and it isn't changing back. [continues 772 words]
Ex-Mayor Renews His Call for Decriminalizing Marijuana in Wake of 300-Plus Killings University of Baltimore President Kurt L. Schmoke condemned the city's "subculture of violence" on Sunday and reiterated his call for the decriminalization of marijuana and an increase in employment opportunities, as the city's annual homicide total hit 300 for the first time since he was mayor in the 1990s. Speaking on a panel on WMAR's "Square Off" talk show with Richard Sher, Schmoke called the mounting death toll an "absolute tragedy" and said the community must take a stand against the violence to stop it. [continues 515 words]
Regarding Dr. Leana Wen's Nov. 11 op-ed, the use of so-called synthetic marijuana is an unintended side-effect of the war on natural marijuana ("Real danger in fake drugs"). Consumers are turning to potentially toxic drugs, made in China and sold as research chemicals before being repackaged as incense for retail sale in the U.S. A punitive criminal justice system incentivizes use. These potentially deadly chemical highs cannot be detected by standard drug tests. Military personnel and persons on probation use synthetic drugs to escape detection. [continues 97 words]
Officials Swamped As Almost 900 License Applications Flood In Maryland officials said Thursday that they expect to delay the state's medical marijuana program as they sort through a deluge of nearly 900 applications from businesses seeking licenses to grow, dispense or process the drug. The crush of 882 applicants brought in more than $1 million in license fees and prompted officials to push back plans to grant preliminary approval to licensees by mid-January. Extending the deadline to review, score and award the licenses into next year "in turn will extend the overall program rollout," said Hannah Byron, executive director of the Medical Cannabis Commission. [continues 848 words]
Baltimore Moves to Eradicate Synthetic Drugs in the City As Emergency Room Visits Rise When you think about drugs that ultimately lead people to the E.R., the first things that come to mind might be heroin, cocaine or prescription drugs. However, there is another dangerous set of substances that are sending thousands to hospitals across the country: synthetic drugs. As an emergency physician, I have treated high school students who came in unresponsive and needed breathing tubes to stay alive. I have seen teens hallucinating and suffering seizures. I have attended to adults who sustained long-term brain, heart and kidney damage because of these harmful drugs. [continues 593 words]
More Than 350 Apply for Licenses to Grow, Process or Dispense It "We could be very successful here." Dr. Greg Daniel, who hopes to operate a "seed-to-sale" operation that grows marijuana, processes it and sells it at a dispensary Maryland's nascent medical marijuana industry is already booming. More than 350 applicants for licenses to grow, process or dispense medical marijuana were filed with the state's Medical Cannabis Commission by Friday evening's deadline as entrepreneurs try to get in at the ground floor of the newest pot market. The applications cover every county in the state. [continues 978 words]
Who should be licensed to grow medical cannabis in Maryland? That question will soon be answered by the Natalie LaPrade Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission, which is authorized under state law to award licenses to 15 organizations to grow medical cannabis. The qualifications of these organizations are important, but so is where in Maryland they intend to locate. We want to shed light on why a qualified, licensed medical cannabis grower could be a tremendous asset for a community like ours. We live and work in Cumberland, a small Western Maryland town blessed with stunning natural surroundings, tranquillity and friendly neighbors. [continues 440 words]
Unexpected Players Getting in at the Ground Level A 152,000-square-foot warehouse in Cumberland, Md., could soon be the home of some of Maryland's first legally produced medical marijuana. To address security concerns, Peak Harvest Health says it will install bulletproof glass and retinal scanners to identify those entering the building. Employees will wear color-coded uniforms confirming where they are allowed to be. By late 2016, if approved by state regulators, the windowless building next door to a police station could be churning out up to 18 pounds of marijuana a day, enough to treat thousands of patients a month. [continues 970 words]
Headlines like those in The New York Times ("U.S. to Release 6,000 Inmates From Prisons") and in this newspaper ("Hundreds of Marylanders will be among federal drug prisoners released early") are enough to add to the jitters of a city already grappling with an explosion of violence. But hold your horses. The U. S. Sentencing Commission is essentially admitting that tens of thousands of men and women should never have been punished so harshly. They were victims of the hysteria of a war on drugs that disproportionately targeted blacks and Latinos. Among the 13,000 federal inmates who are eligible for reduced sentences, including the 6,000 whose release will begin at the end of the month, 72 percent are black or Latino, and a majority have done time under draconian drug laws. They will be released in waves; some are already in transitional programs, like the 37 in a facility operated by Volunteers for America Chesapeake. [continues 627 words]
Mass Incarceration and Long Prison Terms Don't Make Us Safer From Crime The federal prison system holds thousands of inmates who probably don't need to be there, either because they received unduly long sentences for low-level, nonviolent drug offenses committed decades ago, or because they're now simply too old to represent much of a threat (crime being overwhelmingly a young man's game). The U.S. locks up more of its citizens per capita than any other country, despite the facts that it hasn't made us any safer, and the costs, both economic and social, have been enormous. [continues 611 words]
Statute Gives Physicians Permission to Issue Blanket Prescriptions for Naloxone Thousands of people have been trained to use a drug that prevents heroin overdoses, but many have faced a hurdle to obtaining naloxone - - a doctor's prescription. Under a Maryland law that takes effect today, doctors at local health departments can write a blanket prescription that covers anyone who is trained on how to administer the drug, also known as Narcan. They simply need to present a card at the pharmacy showing they had been taught by a state-certified trainer. [continues 859 words]
I am in full support of County Executive Steve Schuh's restrictions on the growing and distribution of medical marijuana in Anne Arundel County. The medical marijuana law is a work in progress, as evidenced by its much-delayed execution, twice passed by the General Assembly but postponed many times because of its difficult implementation. So it is entirely reasonable for our county executive to want to limit medical marijuana's growth and distribution in Anne Arundel County until the law is thoroughly vetted. If the goal is the well-being of patients, what possible difference does it make where the drug is manufactured? [continues 67 words]
A word of caution for readers of Dan Rodricks' column ("'Normalization' of marijuana doesn't necessarily mean wider use," Sept. 17). Continued vigilance in communicating and educating young people about the health effects of heavy marijuana use is critical. This is especially important since fewer adolescents now perceive marijuana as harmful. The University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future Study 2014 reports that just about one-third of high school seniors believe marijuana can be harmful to health, down from 52.4 percent. [continues 181 words]
Schuh's Attempt to Ban Medical Marijuana Facilities in Anne Arundel County Is Alarmist and Probably Illegal Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh's effort to effectively ban medical marijuana facilities in his county through the zoning code is not only alarmist and prejudicial, it is also probably illegal. That's the clear conclusion to draw from a letter of advice provided to members of the General Assembly from an assistant attorney general. State law explicitly says that medical marijuana growing, processing and distribution facilities must comply with local zoning. But "it does not permit the county to effectively bar these facilities, unless a particular county has special characteristics which make a particular type of facility inappropriate." We rather doubt that Mr. Schuh's desire to ensure that Anne Arundel isn't a "guinea pig" when it comes to medical marijuana would qualify as such a special characteristic. Rather, we are quite certain that in as large and diverse a county as Anne Arundel, there are plenty of locations that would be more than suitable for all types of medical marijuana facilities. [continues 632 words]
The Maryland attorney general's office says counties cannot summarily ban medical marijuana operations that are allowed by state law - an opinion conflicting with a proposal by Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh to prohibit medical marijuana facilities in that county. Last week, Schuh proposed a county bill to prevent individuals from growing, processing or dispensing medical marijuana in all Arundel zoning classifications. People with a valid prescription would be allowed to possess and use medical marijuana, but would have to get it outside the county. [continues 286 words]
Nearly 2 1/2 years after legalizing the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, Maryland is preparing to issue business licenses to dispensaries and cultivation centers-prompting a range of reactions from local elected officials. At one extreme, Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh (R) is proposing a ban on cannabis production and shops in the county, which a skeptical state lawmaker likened to a county specific OxyContin prohibition. Elsewhere, Republicans hungry for jobs in their rural communities are embracing potential marijuana businesses. [continues 891 words]
The Anne Arundel Collation for Compassionate Care believes that County Executive Steve Schuh's anti-compassionate care legislation discriminates against county residents who suffer from the devastating effects of debilitating health conditions ("Medical marijuana ban runs into doubts," Sept. 15). Patients suffering from cancer, HIV/AIDS, seizures, autoimmune diseases, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries and other debilitating health conditions should not have to suffer in the darkness. They should not have to travel long distances to procure a medicine that their doctor and health professionals from around the world have deemed effective and beneficial. [continues 522 words]
Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh's position on medical cannabis is both disappointing and baffling. And it cannot be permitted to stand. Under Mr. Schuh's proposal, medical cannabis facilities, essentially the pharmacies to distribute medication to suffering patients, and all matters of manufacturing and distribution of this medication, would be made illegal in Anne Arundel County. As a member of the House of Delegates, Mr. Schuh voted against medical marijuana and to continue making possession of small amounts of marijuana an offense punishable by months in jail. In combination with his current stance, if Mr. Schuh has his way, citizens of Anne Arundel County, and across our state with debilitating diseases such as cancer, AIDS and glaucoma would continue to be forced to choose between obtaining helpful medication and being a criminal. [continues 578 words]
Rod Rosenstein's op-ed piece, "A proven plan to prevent city murders" (Sept. 13), starts with the notion that it is the Police Department's job to prevent crime. To the contrary, I believe it is the Police Department's job to promptly respond to crime, investigate crime and deliver the guilty person to justice. The primary job of a prosecutor is to be a minister of justice - this is a widely accepted but often-ignored requirement, and it is ignored in Mr. Rosenstein's essay. [continues 222 words]
It's a shame that Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh is moving backward, not forward, on medical marijuana ("Proposal to ban medical marijuana raises doubts," Sept. 15). In 23 states and Washington, D.C., sick patients depend on legal medical marijuana to help alleviate symptoms of chemotherapy, prevent seizures and more. Medical marijuana in Maryland, as it stands, will be regulated tightly by an appointed commission to ensure that it only benefits approved patients. Forcing patients to travel benefits nobody and creates yet another burden on the sick or dying. I hope that Mr. Schuh stops substituting his own judgment for that of the commission and stops playing politics with people's lives. Brandon Levey, Pikesville [end]
The Baltimore County Council has set the zoning rules that will govern where medical marijuana businesses can open in the county. The unanimous passage of Councilwoman Vicki Almond's bill makes Baltimore County the first jurisdiction to tackle zoning issues surrounding medical marijuana, in advance of the state's issuing licenses to growers, processors and dispensaries. Medical marijuana growing and processing facilities will be allowed in industrial districts, although in the Chesapeake Enterprise Zone - a commercial and industrial district in the eastern part of the county - a grower must obtain approval of a special exception, which can be granted by an administrative judge after a public hearing. [continues 113 words]
Instead of arresting street level dealers, Maryland should focus on treating heroin addiction Recently The Capital reported on the arrest of 25 people in Annapolis for selling heroin. Our political leaders celebrated this as a significant victory in the drug war. Yet we have seen countless headlines about drug busts in the 40-plus years since Richard Nixon declared the war on drugs, and the drug trade continues unabated. Does anyone believe the recent arrests will accomplish anything, beyond saddling the arrestees with convictions that will haunt them the rest of their lives? As long as there is a demand for the drugs, the trade will continue. [continues 568 words]
Aspiring Growers Ask Balto. CO. Council to Change Law Entrepreneurs eager to get a foothold in the nascent medical marijuana business in Maryland asked Baltimore County Council members Tuesday to pass zoning laws that would allow them to operate. Travis Radebaugh, a member of the family that operates Towson-based Radebaugh Florist & Greenhouses, told council members his company is ready to start growing marijuana - if the council allows farming operations in rural zones. Council members are wrestling with details of where they should allow medical marijuana growing operations, processing facilities and dispensaries once the state approves licenses for the businesses. [continues 409 words]
It was with deep regret and sadness that I looked closely at the pictures of each of my 45 fellow Baltimore residents murdered in July ("45 murders in 31 days: Looking back at Baltimore's deadliest month," Aug. 29). All but two of them share one common trait: they are people of color. Where are "Black Lives Matter" or Al Sharpton now? The ostensible reason for a large number of these murders is the proliferation of drugs and their insidious effect on human behavior. But what is the core reason for this? [continues 104 words]
Your report "45 murders in 31 days: Looking back at Baltimore's deadliest month" (Aug. 29) may be the most important news article since Freddie Gray's death. It provides a perspective that no longer permits people who don't live in the poor neighborhoods most affected by the violence to discount the homicides there by simply chalking them up to "drug dealers killing drug dealers." While there may be some of that, for each and every loss of life someone nevertheless grieves. Thanks for publishing this important story. Jeanne Geiger Brown [end]
In a recent editorial The Sun chose to ignore the many positives of Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford's interim heroin task force report and instead spent most of its energy misinterpreting and then harping on his seven-word remark about funding: "It's probably never going to be enough" ("Rutherford pleads poverty," Aug. 26). Why is this shocking? The heroin crisis needs a holistic solution; money alone will not solve it. This is widely recognized as fact, and was made abundantly clear by numerous testimonials given during the task force's open meetings that were held across the state. [continues 151 words]
A24-year-old athlete from Columbia, a teenage girl from Glen Burnie who wanted to become a medical examiner and a 21-year-old brother of two from Pasadena. What do these three individuals have in common? Each died from a drug overdose. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that in 2013, nearly 44,000 Americans died from drug overdose, referring to the situation as an "epidemic" as it eclipsed the number of deaths from auto accidents for the fifth year in a row. [continues 602 words]
Putting city residents with minor criminal records to work on Baltimore's $1 billion school renovation project looks like a win-win situation Ask anyone who lives in Baltimore the two things the city needs most and you're likely to get the same answer: Better schools for its children and more jobs for its working-age adults. That's why a proposal to make sure as many local residents as possible get work from the $1 billion plan to rebuild the school system's aging infrastructure sounds like a winner all around. Not only will young people get the modern school facilities they deserve but thousands of the city's unemployed could finally nail down a good job paying decent wages. [continues 556 words]
Rutherford Says Size of Problem Outstrips Available Money Cautioning that there likely would never be enough money to fix Maryland's heroin problem, Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford said Tuesday that a state task force recommends an expansion of treatment and prevention efforts to begin addressing it. Among the recommendations, part of an interim report to the governor, are allocations such as $800,000 to a residential treatment facility in Kent County to increase its capacity to 40 beds, and $300,000 to Baltimore for a pilot program in which recovering addicts would reach out to and help current users. [continues 1054 words]
Attorney General Frosh's commendable effort to stamp out conscious bias in law enforcement is only the first step to ensuring justice Attorney General Brian E. Frosh is poised to take a commendable step today in the effort to restore trust between the police and minority communities by issuing a set of guidelines designed to stop officers from using race, ethnicity or other characteristics as a factor in routine law enforcement. But as an investigation of Baltimore police practices by The Sun's Catherine Rentz makes clear, it will be no easy thing to translate the principles Mr. Frosh is articulating into discernible change in neighborhoods like Freddie Gray's Sandtown-Winchester. AMY DAVIS/BALTIMORE SUN Attorney General Brian E. Frosh is seeking to sharply limit the influence of racial and other biases on police work. [continues 767 words]
I applaud Joseph Scalia's commentary ("Blame city violence on the drug war," Aug. 22). His statement that this is a war not on drugs but on people living in war zones in every American city is unfailingly accurate. His admonition that no progress, regardless of the dollars spent, will be achieved to alleviate the killings and spare these families and neighborhoods in free fall until a truce has been declared could not be more prophetic. One might expect law enforcement and its unions would be the first large contingent to call for that truce, given the impossible job they have been charged with all these years. George Frazier, Baltimore [end]
Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby recently lamented in an op-ed piece about the difficulty of prosecuting crime because witnesses refuse to come forward. Rep Elijah Cummings recently issued an emotional appeal for "blacks lives [to] matter to black people." The city police chief recently announced that 10 federal agents would embed within the department to stem the rising violence. Baltimore is not unique in its surging crime rate. Politicians, police officials and community leaders around the country get on TV and appear baffled by the "senseless" violence. [continues 631 words]
Applications for licenses to operate 15 medical cannabis growing facilities, 15 processing plants and 109 dispensaries in the state of Maryland will begin in the next few weeks. The citizens of Baltimore County, and residents throughout Maryland, are relying on their county council members and county commissioners to serve them well when it comes to the location of these medical cannabis facilities. While the General Assembly has only legalized medical marijuana, which is a decision I wholeheartedly support, local government cannot be so short sighted as to just focus on today and ignore tomorrow. The point in the implementation of Maryland's medical cannabis laws has arrived where council members and commissioners must exercise county government's long-standing authority on land use matters. As the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission executive director Hannah L. Byron confirmed at the Maryland Association of Counties (MACo) Summer Conference, these businesses must comply with local zoning regulations. [continues 486 words]
Regarding your thoughtful editorial on the medical use of cannabis, medical marijuana is not something to be feared ("Medical marijuana debate," Aug. 14). Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that states with open medical marijuana access have a 25 percent lower opioid overdose death rate than marijuana prohibition states. The protective effect grows stronger with time. States with established access showed a 33 percent reduction in deaths. This research finding has huge implications for cities like Baltimore that are struggling with prescription narcotic and heroin overdose deaths. [continues 106 words]
Inside Maryland
