COMMITTEE VOTES DOWN MARIJUANA BILL

A Maryland Senate committee voted down a bill Friday that would have
allowed the terminally ill to use doctor-approved marijuana to
relieve pain and nausea.

The same bill is being considered in the House of Delegates, but the
Judicial Proceedings Committee vote means the measure is all but dead
for the 2001 General Assembly session.

Only three Democratic senators supported the bill, Jennie Forehand,
Clarence Mitchell IV and Perry Sfikas.

Ms. Forehand, of Montgomery County, imagined herself fighting cancer
and the debilitating effects of treatment.

"I would probably go out to do it illegally, and I don't want to do
that. I can really put myself in the shoes of somebody in pain in the
aftermath of chemo," said Ms. Forehand, a 65-year-old former teacher.

Frederick County's two Republican senators, Alex Mooney and Timothy
Ferguson, opposed the measure.

The committee's vote came only two days after about 20 people
testified in favor of the bill. Committees tend to give bills more
time before a voting session.

Delegate Donald Murphy, a conservative Republican who represents part
of Baltimore County, spearheaded the proposal this year and last
because of a friend who reluctantly turned to marijuana to boost his
appetite after his cancer treatments left him weak.

The friend, Darrell Putman, operated a horse and carriage business in
Frederick, and died in 1999. Mr. Murphy said his grandparents, father
and mother-in-law died of cancer.

"I'm just one doctor's visit away from having that same diagnosis.
With all due respect to the committee, you shouldn't tell my doctor
what's best for me," he said.

Mr. Murphy said he was disappointed at "how little regard this
committee had for the testimony given."

He said he wasn't surprised by the vote, but he was angry over the
senators' refusal to grant his request to delay the vote. A vote so
quick means the bill doesn't get a fair hearing in the House.

The House Judiciary Committee heard testimony on the bill on
Thursday. Because of the Senate panel's vote, Judiciary is likely to
vote the bill down without much consideration.

Mr. Murphy said he might withdraw the bill before a Judiciary vote.

"I don't want people to get in the habit of voting against it."

During the voting session, Mr. Mitchell connected the issue to the
distribution of needles to drug addicts. Initially, he opposed needle
exchanges because it could encourage drug abuse.

Then, he saw how the programs helped to reduce AIDS.

"I'm not in favor of the proliferation of drugs. But I saw firsthand
what the distribution of needles did," he said.

Mr. Mooney said he opposed the legislation because he believed states
have had problems in prosecuting drug cases because of medical
marijuana.

Mr. Ferguson missed the voting session but cast his vote later. He
said he believed the government should distribute marijuana.

The decision could reach farther than the bill itself. The General
Assembly is likely to consider slates of bills crafted in the wake of
the murder of a Frederick boy, one group written by Mr. Ferguson and
another group written by Delegate Sue Hecht, D-Frederick/Washington.

All the bills will likely be considered by the House Judiciary
Committee, the panel on which Mr. Murphy serves.

"Sue Hecht has a lot more friends in the House than Tim Ferguson
does," Mr. Murphy said.