|
|
| Medical Marijuana Bill Killed by 1 Vote |
|
Posted by FoM on April 06, 2002 at 08:10:43 PT By Douglas Tallman, News-Post Staff Source: Fredrick News-Post 
By one vote, a Senate panel killed a medical marijuana measure Friday, causing a rift between the General Assembly's crime committees that could threaten other bills as the legislative session nears its end for 2002.The House Judiciary Committee had planned a Friday evening session to complete work on sexual predator bills from Sen. Timothy Ferguson, R-Frederick/Carroll, but that was postponed after the Judicial Proceedings Committee vote. Meanwhile, Judicial Proceedings chose Friday to postpone voting on sexual predator legislation from Delegate Sue Hecht, D-Frederick/Washington. Sen. Clarence Mitchell, D-Baltimore, asked for the delay because of Judiciary's failure to act on the Ferguson measure. "It doesn't seem to have the same fluid nature that it does over here," Mr. Mitchell said. Ms. Hecht expressed worry over the bickering. "I think that they're playing with the issue of sexual predators, and that is so disturbing to me," she said. "It could be victim of horseplay between the two chambers, of which I'm not a part." The medical marijuana measure would allow the terminally ill to defend themselves from drug possession charges by saying they have a medical necessity to use it. If they can prove that claim, they would face no greater penalty than a $100 fine. After three years of struggling through the General Assembly, the bill, HB 1222, passed the House of Delegates 80-56 on March 24. Once reaching the Senate, Mr. Ferguson told the bill's chief advocate, Baltimore County Republican Delegate Donald Murphy, that he would "shepherd" the bill through his committee, Judicial Proceedings, in exchange for support for his bills in Judiciary. But shepherding the medical marijuana bill didn't mean he would vote for it. "At no time did I tell him I would vote for the bill," Mr. Ferguson said. He was part of the majority in a 6-to-5 vote to kill the bill. Mr. Murphy remembers Mr. Ferguson's promise differently. "Tim Ferguson failed to be truthful with me about HB 1222. It makes me wonder whether I can trust everything he said about" his bill, Mr. Murphy said. Mr. Ferguson's bill would allow judges to send repeat child rapists to life in prison without chance of parole. The Hecht bill before Judicial Proceedings is similar. "I hope Senator Ferguson will help me, as he promised and bring this to a vote," Ms. Hecht said. Mr. Murphy wondered whether the Ferguson legislation passed the Senate because of its need or because of the relationships Mr. Ferguson has developed. "If a bill can be passed for a quid pro quo, a bill can be killed for a quid pro quo," Mr. Murphy said. Mr. Ferguson said he couldn't support the marijuana bill because federal law still makes possession a crime, and doctors wouldn't be able to prescribe it. "If we let doctors prescribe outside the pharmaceutical protocols, what's next?" he said. "That's an argument brought out of the blue. It's false and convenient," said Delegate David Brinkley, R-Frederick, a cancer survivor who was one of the marijuana bill's co-sponsors. "I think it's pretty pathetic." The medical marijuana supporters on Judicial Proceedings included some of the panel's most liberal members — Clarence Mitchell, Ralph Hughes and Perry Sfikas of Baltimore and Jennie Forehand of Montgomery County — along with one of its most conservative, Sen. Richard Colburn, R-Dorchester. Mr. Colburn said his own prostate surgery had a role in his decision. "It seemed like a good compromise," he said. Source: Fredrick News-Post (MD) Related Articles & Web Sites: Marijuana Policy Project Coalition for Compassionate Access Medical Marijuana: Delegates Act With Compassion Delegate Continues Campaign for Marijuana Bill Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
 |
| Comment #4 posted by goneposthole on April 06, 2002 at 15:09:44 PT |
| What is so difficult about that? If I want to smoke cabbages and apples, who cares? Do you smoke Pot? No. Never have and never will. Do you smoke marijuana? Yeah, I do. I smoke it all of the time. What difference does it make? What time is it? Time to quit lying; time for Truth or Consequences. It was a green haired, one-eyed flying purple people eater. War must be a new sport. Fox News gives us a play-by-play. It's a funny ol' ride. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by firedog on April 06, 2002 at 12:17:44 PT |
| I saw a statement like that in another article posted here... it would look great on a bumper sticker or a banner! [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by DdC on April 06, 2002 at 11:25:39 PT |
| Can't risk losing profits to homegrown herbal medication!!! Mr. Ferguson said he couldn't support the marijuana bill because federal law still makes possession a crime, and doctors wouldn't be able to prescribe it. "If we let doctors prescribe outside the pharmaceutical protocols, what's next?" he said. A.M.A. U.S. Representative Dan Quayle, March 1977 Declaration of Arnold Leff, M.D. Suing the D.E.A.th! Senator Orin Hatch, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 28 Senate co-sponsors have introduced Bill S. 3 that mandates that a person convicted of bringing into the United States "100 usual dosage amounts" of several illicit substances including two ounces of marijuana be sentenced to life without parole for a first offense and death for a second offense. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and 37 House co-sponsors have introduced Bill H. R. 41 with the identical provision. On May 8, 1997, Speaker Gingrich said: "If you sell it, we're going to kill you." THE BUSH-CHENEY DRUG EMPIRE Media Enlist in Government Marijuana Crusade Judge Pamela Alexander at the DPF Conference, November 1996 The Media's Corporate Ownership Newt Gingrich's Support for Medical Marijuana The following letter by Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-Ga, now Speaker of the House) in support of medical access to marijuana originally appeared in the March 19, 1982 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). To the Editor, The American Medical Association's Council on Scientific Affairs should be commended for its report, "Marijuana: Its Health Hazards and Therapeutic Potential" (1981;246:1823). Not only does the report outline evidence of marijuana's potential harms, but it distinguishes this concern from the legitimate issue of marijuana's important medical benefits. All too often the hysteria that attends public debate over marijuana's social abuse compromises a clear appreciation for this critical distinction. Since 1978, 32 states have abandoned the federal prohibition to recognize legislatively marijuana's important medical properties. Federal law, however, continues to define marijuana as a drug "with no accepted medical use," and federal agencies continue to prohibit physician-patient access to marijuana. This outdated federal prohibition is corrupting the intent of the state laws and depriving thousands of glaucoma and cancer patients of the medical care promised them by their state legislatures. On September 16, 1981, Representatives Stewart McKinney and I introduced legislation designed to end bureaucratic interference in the use of marijuana as a medicant. We believe licensed physicians are competent to enploy marijuana, and patients have a right to obtain marijuana legally, under medical supervision, from a regulated source. The medical prohibition does not prevent seriously ill patients from employing marijuana; it simply deprives them of medical supervision and denies them access to a regulated medical substance. Physicians are often forced to choose between their ethical responsibilities to the patient and their legal liabilities to federal bureaucrats. Representative McKinney and I hope the Council will take a close and careful look at this issue. Federal policies do not reflect a factual or balanced assessment of marijuana's use as a medicant. The Council, by thoroughly investigating the available materials, might well discover that its own assessment of marijuana's therapeutic value has, in the past, been more than slightly shaded by federal policies that are less than neutral. Newt Gingrich Bush/Lilly excerpted from Emperor by Jack Herer President Abraham Lincoln (December 1840) [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by E_Johnson on April 06, 2002 at 09:39:34 PT |
| By one vote, a Senate panel killed a medical marijuana measure Friday, causing a rift between the General Assembly's crime committees that could threaten other bills as the legislative session nears its end for 2002. The House Judiciary Committee had planned a Friday evening session to complete work on sexual predator bills from Sen. Timothy Ferguson,R-Frederick/Carroll, but that was postponed after the Judicial Proceedings Committee vote. Most children whose lives are destroyed by sexual abuse have those lives destroyed by their own parents in their own homes. Sexual predation by strangers is very rare despite what our sensationalistic irreponsible factiually-challenged news media in this country would have us all believe. Whereas cancer is quite common and afflicts almost everyone in this country eventually, even children. These legislators whould all be sent out of office. There is no sexual predator bill anywhere that will ever save the life of any child. These bills are all about making the adults feel better after the criminal is already caught. Legislators making bills will never stop sexual abuse in the home, which is where the vast majority of it happens. [ Post Comment ] |
| Post Comment |  |
 |  |
