allenlovesgreen

Medical Marijuana
Maryland is sending mixed messages about the use of marijuana for people with serious illnesses who are in need of relief.
3/30/09|The Baltimore Sun| Editorial

Baltimore, MD.-- For patients suffering from cancer and other debilitating illnesses, the medical use of marijuana can relieve symptoms such as pain, inflammation and nausea in many cases. Currently, 13 states, including California, Colorado, Maine, Michigan, Rhode Island and Vermont, allow the medical use marijuana with a doctor's approval or certification. And although possession of the drug remains illegal under federal law, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said last week that the Justice Department will no longer go after small dispensaries that sell cannabis for medical use so long as they comply with state laws.

For all these reasons, a bill sponsored by Montgomery County Del. Henry B. Heller that would require the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to rethink Maryland's policy on medical marijuana deserves serious consideration.

Delegate Heller's bill does not propose legalizing marijuana; it would not give drug dealers a license to peddle their wares. Rather, it would create a task force of health professionals to study the legal and practical implications of allowing marijuana to be used solely for medical purposes. At the very least, it would encourage officials to confront the glaring inconsistencies in state law so that patients, physicians and operators of medical marijuana dispensaries would know exactly where they stood.

Right now, the state is sending mixed signals about the legality of marijuana for medical use. In 2003, the General Assembly sharply reduced penalties for patients convicted of marijuana possession if they could prove a medical necessity in court. But people with serious illnesses can still be arrested and fined up to $100 for possession, even if they prove a medical necessity. Mr. Heller says the 2003 law has had the unintended consequence of giving people a "false sense of security." He cites constituents in a senior citizens home who say they want to use marijuana to relieve symptoms of major illnesses but don't want to break the law.

As Maryland's population ages and more people experience chronic health problems that could be successfully treated with medical marijuana, state officials will need to draw a bright line between legal and illegal use of the drug that sends a consistent message to the public. The study proposed by Delegate Heller is a first step toward a resolution of this matter.

DoobieBrother

The best thing to come out of something like, and every state has to deal with it, is that the law regarding marijuana possession is always a grey area. Sooner or later, all states will have to make a definitive position on its stance with marijuana laws once and for all. Nobody wants to live in a continual state of limbo on the subject.

So, which way do they lean, either compassionately or not? Chances are they'll lean towards compassion. The movement, in a general sense, is always going forward, not backward. More states are becoming medical marijuana states, not the other way around.

I just wish these things didn't take years to get figured out and put into place. God, time is a bitch.

mud_head

the card tower is falling, its all coming to a close soon. if california gets that bill passed..... washington is next. then oregon. then everyone else. if cali gets it completely legalised, i predict that in the next 3 years, most if not all states will have at least medical mj, and the federal stance will have changed to pro-legalisation.

i bet you an 1/8th.

SleepyJohn

Another one hits the trust! A good source,an obvious solution, to pain and illness from fatal disease. The more presidents, the better the domino effect,of Medical use, of a harmless relief,of the symptoms leading to death. The real way to show marijuana is more for hope, than not called dope!