A MEDICAL MARIJUANA BREAK

Use Will Remain Illegal, but Bill Signed by Ehrlich Cuts Patients' Penalties

Criminal penalties would be dramatically reduced for cancer patients and
others in Maryland who smoke marijuana to relieve suffering under
legislation signed yesterday by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., but the new law
stops short of letting seriously ill people 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 District 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 P. 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 yesterday.

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.

Lawrence said he voted for Ehrlich and contributed to his political campaign
but now will "vote for anyone but Robert Ehrlich" in 2006.

"Along comes the first Republican governor in three decades, and he gives in
on this legislation?" Lawrence said. "This is such a stupid maneuver, I have
to react to this."

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."

While some Republicans criticized Ehrlich, others stepped forward to praise
his support for medical marijuana. The issue first came before the Maryland
General Assembly four years ago, after Darrell Putman, a former Army Green
Beret and Howard County Farm Bureau director, found that smoking marijuana
helped relieve the pain of cancer, which killed him in 1999.

Putman convinced then-Del. Donald E. Murphy (R-Baltimore County) to sponsor
legislation that would have allowed seriously ill people to grow as many as
seven marijuana plants for personal consumption. Murphy, who now chairs the
Baltimore County GOP, and Putman's widow, Shay, were on hand yesterday to
celebrate the bill's signing.

They were joined by Sen. David R. Brinkley (R-Frederick), a cancer survivor
who advocates decriminalizing marijuana for medical purposes and won
election last year against two Republican opponents in one of the most
conservative districts in the state.

"I think Washington is out of step on this issue," Brinkley said.
"Compassion needs to be overriding. These people are not criminals."