DARRELL PUTMAN, 49, ADVOCATE FOR MEDICINAL MARIJUANA USE

Darrell E. Putman, a former Army Green Beret and conservative Republican
who turned to marijuana for medicinal purposes to treat his cancer, died
Wednesday of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at University of Maryland Medical
Center. He was 49.

In the final months of his life, Mr. Putman became an advocate for
legalizing marijuana for medicinal use. He smoked the drug to regain his
appetite and gain weight in preparation for cancer treatment, and wanted
other patients to reap its benefits.

"He said, `If I ever left a legacy, it will be to try to get this passed
for other patients,' " said his brother, Wayne E. Putman of Frederick. Mr.
Putman maintained the energy to fight for causes he believed in even as his
disease sapped his physical strength.

"During the summer, I'd work until I ran out of daylight," he told a
reporter last month. "Imagine. I used to work 16 hours a day; now I need to
sleep 16 hours a day. I hate it."

Mr. Putman began farming full time after a 30-year military career during
which he rose to the rank of Army lieutenant colonel.

The Frederick native graduated from Gov. Thomas Johnson High School in
Frederick. He received an associate degree in accounting from Frederick
Community College and a master's degree from Loyola College. He also earned
a law degree from the University of Baltimore.

At 17, he enlisted in the Army and served in Vietnam with the Green Berets.
After 20 years, he transferred to the Maryland Army National Guard. He
retired in 1998 to run the farm he and his wife purchased eight years earlier.

Mr. Putman and his wife, Shaleen Murphy, met a dozen years ago as rival
carriage company owners offering tours of downtown Frederick. He once hired
a lawyer to force her off her corner because she was undercutting his
prices, she said.

"We actually hated each other," Ms. Murphy said.

But they joined forces when filmmaker Barry Levinson needed horses for the
filming of "Avalon." They got the contract, and a relationship blossomed
during 17 weeks on the movie set.

Mr. Putman's conservative politics made his advocacy for legalizing
marijuana exceptional. This year, he persuaded the Howard County Farm
Bureau, where he was a director, to adopt his position.

On Dec. 10, Ms. Murphy and Mr. Putman married, formalizing a relationship
of 12 years that yielded two daughters. Funeral services will be held at 2
p.m. tomorrow at Keeney and Basford Funeral Home, 106 E. Church St.,
Frederick.

He is also survived by two daughters, Joleen Putman and Zoe Putman, both of
Lisbon; a niece and several aunts, uncles and cousins.

A first wife, Susan J. VanGilder Putman, and a daughter, Christie Diana
Putman, died earlier.