cannabisnews.com: Medical Marijuana Bill Fails in Senate 





Medical Marijuana Bill Fails in Senate 
Posted by FoM on April 06, 2002 at 08:25:03 PT
By Susan Gervasi, Journal Staff Writer 
Source: Prince George's Journal 
A measure that would have allowed Marylanders possessing marijuana for medical reasons to claim medical use as a court defense - and would have limited the penalty if found guilty to no more than $100 - failed 5-6 Friday in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee.   Sen. Leo E. Green, D-23rd-Bowie, cast one of the committee's six votes against the measure. Green is the only Prince George's representative on the panel. 
 Maryland law holds that marijuana possession is a misdemeanor, subject to penalties including a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.   The Darrell Putman Compassionate Use Act, which passed the House of Delegates earlier this session, was sponsored by Del. Donald Murphy, R-Baltimore, whose bill had more than 50 cosponsors, or more than a third of the 141-member House.   The measure was named for a Green Beret and Howard County farmer who died in 1999. Putman found smoking pot helped him cope with lymphoma, and he lobbied for its medical legalization.   Although marijuana possession is a federal offense, eight states have laws allowing for its medical use, and federal officials have indicated no interest in prosecuting such users.   ``This is a bad day for patients in Maryland, whose only crime is taking their medicine," said Billy Rogers of the Marijuana Policy Project, which lobbies for medical marijuana legislation throughout the country.   ``We had an uphill climb in this committee. Last year in this committee, we lost the vote 7-3; this year by only one vote,'' he said. ``We'll be back next year, and we're going to win next year."   Rogers said his group will let voters know which legislators ``stood in the way of patients getting their medicine." Source: Prince George's Journal (MD)Author: Susan Gervasi, Journal Staff Writer Published: Saturday, April 6, 2002Copyright: 2002 The Journal NewspapersContact: pgedit jrnl.comWebsite: http://cold.jrnl.com/cfdocs/new/pg/Related Articles & Web Sites:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Coalition for Compassionate Accesshttp://www.CompassionateAccess.org Medical Marijuana Bill Killed by 1 Votehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12453.shtmlMedical Marijuana: Delegates Act With Compassionhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12441.shtml
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