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| Delegate Continues Campaign for Marijuana Bill |
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Posted by FoM on April 04, 2002 at 08:45:40 PT By Susan Gervasi, Journal Staff Writer Source: Prince George's Journal 
Continuing his General Assembly campaign for passage of medical marijuana legislation, Del. Don Murphy, D-12th-Baltimore County, urged the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee to support legislation that passed late last month on the House side by 80-56. The bill is called the Darrell Putman Compassionate Use Act for a late Howard County farmer and cancer patient who, while undergoing chemotherapy treatments, found that smoking marijuana enhanced his appetite and helped with nausea. Some studies have suggested the herb can help with glaucoma, epilepsy, Crohn's disease and multiple sclerosis. Eight states have laws allowing its use for medical purposes. ``I'm here to ask for your support," Murphy said to a panel of senators that included Leo Green, D-23rd-Bowie. ``I'm here on behalf of the 24,000 people in the state of Maryland who will be diagnosed with cancer this year. This bill is very important to them." Murphy's bill, which was co-sponsored by more than 50 other delegates, including some from Prince George's, would allow individuals whose doctors have recommended marijuana use for medical purposes to invoke that recommendation as a defense if they go to court for possession of the herb. Judges who find such individuals guilty could not fine them more than $100 dollars as a penalty. Under current law, pot possession can bring up to a $1,000 fine and a year in jail. ``The bill does not make marijuana legal," Murphy said. ``It allows cancer patients whose doctors have recommended it to come in and argue the medical necessity defense. It eliminates the fear of jail, and that's one less thing to worry about in the balance of what may be a very short life." Del. David R. Brinkley, R-4th-Frederick, told the senators that as a former cancer patient, he could empathize with those who might find relief in smoking marijuana. ``Part of the mission in treatment in any kind of cancer is to come after the entire body - to poison the whole system, and the theory is that healthy cells regenerate," Brinkley said. ``Part of the necessity for that is adequate nutrition." Brinkley said that though he had been able to keep food down, other cancer patients were not so fortunate, and could possibly benefit from marijuana use. ``It's not a conservative, or liberal, or Republican or Democrtat issue," he said. ``I ask my colleages, liberal and conservative, to support this bill." Complete Title: Delegate Continues Campaign for Medical Marijuana Bill Source: Prince George's Journal (MD) Related Articles & Web Sites: Marijuana Policy Project Coalition for Compassionate Access Marijuana Bill Nearing Crucial Vote Medical Marijuana Advances In Md. Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #6 posted by PonziScheme on April 04, 2002 at 12:25:28 PT |
| For a breakdown of both active and inactive state medi-pot laws, check out: http://www.mpp.org/statelaw/index.html. NORML has a similar index on their site. Illinois is hardly alone. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #5 posted by PonziScheme on April 04, 2002 at 12:21:08 PT |
| Eight states have current active medical marijuana laws. More than 30 have passed medical marijuana laws, either laws allowing for medical prescriptions or therapeutic cannabis research programs, that are dormant like Illinois. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #4 posted by FoM on April 04, 2002 at 10:42:48 PT |
| I haven't been following all of the comments but I went to NORML's web site and found this information. It says there is no medical marijuana law currently. I hope this helps. I assume that NORML is up to date with the web site but I could be wrong.
Illinois
Laws in Illinois [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by E_Johnson on April 04, 2002 at 10:28:08 PT |
| Del. David R. Brinkley, R-4th-Frederick, told the senators that as a former cancer patient, he could empathize with those who might find relief in smoking marijuana. '`Part of the mission in treatment in any kind of cancer is to come after the entire body - to poison the whole system, and the theory is that healthy cells regenerate," Brinkley said. ``Part of the necessity for that is adequate nutrition." These people who argue that we can't use marijuana because we don't know whether it is 100% safe or not -- are ignoring the fact that most substances that are legally prescribable as medicines are substances that we KNOW FOR SURE are not 100% safe. Most of the legal medicines in the pharmacy are very dangerous if used incorrectly. And some even when used correctly. Chemotherapy works when it kills the cancer faster than it kills the rest of the body. Tamoxifen kills breast cancer and prevents its return, but it can cause uterine cancer. Yet I don't see it being denied to sick women on that basis. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by p4me on April 04, 2002 at 09:47:56 PT |
| I will not put up email like this again. I only do it to show support for the truth. Paul, I hope you know what you are talking about. Anyway, I believe you. We just need to get the facts acknowledged by the press. Here is the email I sent. I read an article by Susan Gervasi at http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread12439.shtml I am glad to see any coverage as one of the biggest outcries of the cannabis reform people is lack of coverage by the media. There is a Paul Peterson that says that Illinois has medical marijuana laws that have been on the books for 30 years and has a website at http://ILLINOIS-MMI.org/ I can understand why you said that only 8 states have MMJ laws as that is always said. However, true journalism is built on facts. It is my belief that there is a strong possibility that Illinois is not the 9th state to have MMJ laws but the first of nine. Not only that their 30 year old laws are more progressive than the ones since California in 1996. I will refer you to paulpeterson@illinois-mmi.org He is a lawyer by training and a persecuted medical marijuana patient and very intelligent. If Susan Gervasi is any kind of journalist see should at least contact Mr. Peterson and explore the truth. What Mr. Peterson has to say is an article far more important than her coverage of the Maryland situation. Thank you for covering the cannabis story in Maryland. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by p4me on April 04, 2002 at 09:19:13 PT |
| This bill seems to still ask sick people to deal with the unscrupulous dealers in the black market and to pay high prices for something that could be as cheap as garlic. Which in earlier articles it did mention growing rights in secured areas. That is still asking a lot for someone sick with cancer. And if you haul someone into court just think of the emotional and physical drain much less the chunk of money the lawyers will want. It is going in the right direction but it is way short of satisfactory to the sensible. This article says:Eight states have laws allowing its use for medical purposes. For Paul Peterson, I will email the address shown here and say that Illinois has MMJ and include the MMI website. Here is your chance Paul to tell about the situation in Illinois. If Paul is reading this, I will say that I read your website and was wondering what the statute number was of the law you are refering to. Also, I think you need to put the law as written up on your website. And for people that did not read his website, Paul says that these MMJ laws are not restricted to certain diseases like the Maryland bill and the spirit of the law was to allow for research that could help sick people. VAAI [ Post Comment ] |
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