MARYLAND GOV. EHRLICH SIGNS MARIJUANA LAW

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. signed legislation Thursday to dramatically
reduce criminal penalties for cancer patients and others who smoke
marijuana to relieve suffering, but the new law will not allow seriously
ill people to obtain the drug legally.

The measure, which takes effect Oct. 1, merely makes "medical necessity" a
defense against charges of marijuana possession. Instead of facing a
maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $1,000 fine, those who can convince
a judge that they use marijuana to relieve symptoms of a chronic or
life-threatening illness will have to pay a fine of no more than $100.

Though the Maryland law falls short of measures in California and seven
other states where marijuana use is legal for medical purposes, advocates
said it sends an important message of support to sick people and their
caregivers -- as well as to police and prosecutors, who might otherwise
brand them criminals.

"It helps a little bit," said Erin Hildebrandt, 32, a mother of five from
Smithsburg who has used marijuana to relieve pain from Crohn's disease. "At
least I know I'm not going to be hauled off to prison if I'm caught."

While the practical effects of the law may be limited, the political
fallout could be substantial. Ehrlich is only the second governor in the
nation -- and the first Republican -- to sign such legislation.

The other eight measures were enacted by ballot initiative. A medical
marijuana initiative also won approval from Washington D.C. voters but has
been blocked by Congress. In addition, 21 states, including Virginia, have
approved largely symbolic laws or resolutions recognizing marijuana's
medicinal value.

Ehrlich's decision to sign the bill puts him at odds with conservatives in
his party and with the Bush White House, which lobbied hard and applied "a
lot of pressure," Ehrlich said, to persuade him to veto the bill.

Tom Riley, a spokesman for the Office of National Drug Control Policy,
confirmed that White House drug czar John Walters and his deputy telephoned
Ehrlich to express the administration's opposition. Walters, who has
launched a national campaign against efforts to relax state drug laws, has
said that arguments for medicinal marijuana make no more sense than "an
argument for medicinal crack."

Ehrlich "probably acted with the best of intentions with the idea of
wanting to help people but was badly briefed on the science and public
health aspect of the measure," Riley said Thursday.

Ehrlich's decision also outraged many of his supporters, who accused the
new governor of being duped by groups that seek access to marijuana for
recreational use and are exploiting sick people to get their foot in the
door. The Maryland law was backed by the Marijuana Policy Project, a
Washington-based organization that supports decriminalization.

"This is a rotten and wrongheaded piece of work that will benefit the
pro-marijuana lobby and the potheads of Maryland," said Malcolm Lawrence of
Chevy Chase, a former State Department official in charge of international
narcotics control in the Nixon and Carter administrations.

Ehrlich seemed unconcerned by the uproar. He acknowledged that the
marijuana law was "controversial even within our administration," which is
why he took nearly two months to decide whether to sign it.

In the U.S. House, Ehrlich co-sponsored a bill that would have authorized
states to stake out their own positions on medical marijuana, free from the
pressures of federal drug policy. In the end, he said he chose to stay true
to his "long-held view" that people deserve compassion in "end-of-life
situations."

The Bush administration has "a very legitimate viewpoint. I respect 'em. I
love 'em. Obviously, I'm a major W fan," Ehrlich said, using the
president's nickname.

"But if you look at my views over the years, there are clearly two wings of
the party on social issues. One is more conservative, and one is more
libertarian. I belong to the latter, and I always have."