LAWMAKERS HEAR PLEAS FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA USE

Erin Hildebrandt of Smithsburg said she suffered from a debilitating
bowel disease and migraine headaches that left her unable to care for
herself, let alone her children.

She discovered that smoking marijuana helped her cope.

"It saved my life. I am able to function," the soft-spoken 32-year-old
woman told the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee on Wednesday.

Hildebrandt said she was terrified to speak for fear of what might
happen to her children, three boys and two girls all under age 7.

"Are my little children going to lose their mother?" she
asked.

Hildebrandt, who has Crohn's disease, joined cancer survivors and
medical professionals in asking lawmakers to approve the use of
medical marijuana.

"I'm begging you, please," she said.

Prospects for the legislation are good. It passed the House of
Delegates last year but died by one vote in the same Senate committee
where Wednesday's hearing was held.

Faces have changed with the election, but backer and former delegate
Donald Murphy said he is optimistic.

Gone from the committee is Sen. Tim Ferguson, whose committee vote
last year killed the bill. Ferguson was defeated by Sen. David R.
Brinkley, R-Carroll/Frederick, one of the bill's chief supporters.

Brinkley went through radiation therapy for lymphoma in 1989. Although
he didn't have to use marijuana, he said he would advocate anything to
help people who are suffering.

About 10,000 Marylanders will die from cancer this year, he
said.

Gov. Robert Ehrlich supports the idea of legalizing marijuana for
medical use, but he has not taken a position on the bill under
consideration, his spokesman Henry Fawell said.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Paula Hollinger, D-Baltimore County, would
set up a mechanism whereby patients, with approval of their doctors,
could obtain cards from the state Board of Physician Quality Assurance
certifying that they are using marijuana for health reasons.

Under the bill, patients suffering from a debilitating medical
condition such as cancer, HIV or AIDS, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma or
Crohn's disease could pay a registration fee of up to $150 to smoke
pot and help ease the symptoms. Supporters believe compounds in
marijuana smoke often relieve severe nausea suffered by some patients
undergoing treatment for cancer - and having trouble keeping down pills.

The patient would be allowed to grow seven marijuana plants, three of
which may be mature, and possess one usable ounce of marijuana per
mature plant.

The bill is named after Darrell Putman, a former Army Green Beret from
Howard County who turned to marijuana for medicinal purposes to treat
his cancer before he died in 1999.

A law enforcement officer and a representative for Moose International
testified against the bill.

John C. Horstman of the Moose said there is a danger patients would
abuse the law to grow marijuana for their friends and for profit.

"To open the door and allow a foot inside is not the answer," he
said.

An Elkton, Md., hospice doctor said he supports legalization for
medical use because it has helped patients.

But he expressed concern that the method exposes doctors to the risk
of losing their licenses.

Supporters said doctors would not lose their licenses since they would
not be prescribing the drug, but only recommending.

Since 1970, marijuana has been a controlled dangerous substance under
state and federal drug prohibitions. Simple possession or use of
marijuana can bring penalties of up to a year in prison or a $1,000
fine.

The Board of Physician Quality Assurance, which is a part of the
Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, is opposing the
bill, in part because it may conflict with federal law.

Hollinger has 19 bipartisan co-sponsors on the bill, so it already has
almost enough votes to pass the 47-member Senate. An identical measure
has 56 co-sponsors in the House.