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| Marijuana Rx May Be an Option |
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Posted by FoM on March 18, 2002 at 20:52:18 PT Editorial Source: Daily Times MD 
A bill sponsored by Del. Don Murphy, R-Baltimore County, and co-sponsored by no fewer than 53 of his peers, sits in the House Judiciary Committee after failing to pass twice previously. This bill, if passed, would legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes.A version of the bill passed the House last year, but was killed in a Senate committee. This time, the bill was rewritten to address some of the concerns that caused the bill to die before coming to a vote in the full Senate last year. For example, while the previous version made a medical marijuana user's identification card optional, this time the ID card is mandatory. Under the latest version, the user could not grow marijuana outdoors, to help prevent theft. Caregivers would not be allowed to serve multiple patients, an effort to prevent a single caregiver to harvest large quantities of the plant. In case Murphy's bill doesn't pass muster, two other delegates have sponsored their own versions of the medical marijuana bill. A second version would allow a person arrested for medical marijuana use to use the medicinal purposes as a legal defense in court. A third version takes the opposite tactic by allowing a judge to consider medical use when sentencing someone on a possession conviction. Eight states allow medical use of marijuana for patients with such diseases as AIDS or cancer. Supporters claim the drug does more than just ease pain -- it also is reported to relieve symptoms including nausea, appetite loss and anxiety. A patient with Crohn's disease, an illness characterized by severe gastrointestinal inflammation, reported in The (Baltimore) Sun that smoking marijuana before and after eating is the only treatment that has allowed him to live relatively free of the disorder's debilitating symptoms. There are other issues. Would a person who has smoked marijuana for medical purposes be too impaired to drive a motor vehicle? If so, how would that possibility be addressed? The Maryland bill would in effect give people with a prescription for medical marijuana a license to grow their own crop of the plant for use as medication -- not exactly the same as a prescription that is carried down to the corner drugstore to be filled by a licensed pharmacist. But until some of the other issues can be sorted out, it doesn't seem fair or compassionate to deny to this treatment to those individuals who could truly benefit from it. It would not be glorifying marijuana use or illegal drug abuse to pass this measure in some form and make medical use of marijuana legal for those who are most in need. Maybe this is the year to pass Murphy's bill, or if not his, then one of the other two pieces of legislation that would offer some relief to people who suffer symptoms that could be alleviated by smoking marijuana. In Summation: This might be the year for Maryland to pass a bill legalizing marijuana for medical use by patients whose symptoms are only ease by this drug. Note: Patients deserve its relief. Source: Daily Times, The (MD) Related Articles & Web Sites: Marijuana Policy Project Coalition for Compassionate Access Push Made for Medicinal Pot Medical-Pot Bill Bars Prosecution Medical Marijuana Urged Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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