MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL GAINS MOMENTUM

But If Approved, Measure Would Clash With Federal Drug Enforcement

Proponents of legalizing marijuana for terminally ill patients believe they
have the momentum this year to pass a General Assembly bill creating a
state-run program to oversee use of the drug.

Maryland's attempt to decriminalize the drug, however, places the state at
odds with Bush administration officials, who have tried to communicate their
disapproval to Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.

And a federal drug official warned yesterday that Maryland patients
possessing the drug could be arrested under federal law.

The Darrell Putman Medical Research Act -- named after a Howard County man
who used the drug before dying of cancer -- would allow sick patients to
grow up to seven marijuana plants for personal use if they have a doctors
recommendation.

The patients would first have to register with the State Board of Physicians
Quality Assurance, which would then monitor the patients and research the
drug's effects.

"People don't do this for recreational use," said Sen. David R. Brinkley, a
Frederick County Republican who has received a diagnosis of cancer. "People
do it out of necessity because they are sick."

Brinkley is one of 19 senators and 56 delegates to cosponsor the bill, which
if passed would make Maryland the 10th state in the country to approve some
form of medical marijuana legislation.

House Speaker Michael E. Busch said he did not support medical marijuana
legislation last year, but is open to the idea this year if patients have
proper physician oversight.

Ehrlich generally supports medical marijuana -- in part because his
brother-in-law died of cancer two years ago -- but the governor has yet to
take a formal position on this legislation.

Still, the General Assembly's push for the proposal sets the stage for a
potential showdown with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bush
administration.

"What some states have done is circumvent the process -- a process that
relies on the medical and scientific community -- and left it up to medicine
by referendum," said Will Glaspy, a DEA spokesman in Washington. "Until
Congress changes the federal law, the DEA has the responsibility for
carrying out our duties as indicated in federal drug laws."

In California, which has had a medical marijuana law on the books since
1996, the DEA has raided some centers that distribute the drug to patients.

Dr. Andrea Barthwell, a deputy director for the Office of White House Drug
Policy, said two weeks ago she tried to convey her office's concerns to
Ehrlich, but he "suddenly cut the meeting short when the issue came up."

"The fact there are adults that continue to advance this discussion under
the guise of medicine or compassion ... does disturb me," said Barthwell,
who said only the federal government can approve new medications.

But at a hearing yesterday before the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee,
supporters of the proposal and patients who use marijuana said they are
unfazed by federal laws.

"I care about caring for my family and taking care of my children and giving
them the best, and I can't do that when I am sick," said Erin Hildebrandt, a
32-year-old mother of five children who uses marijuana to relieve her
Crohn's disease.

Lawrence Silberman, 51, who has received a diagnosis of lymphoma, testified:
"Marijuana saved my life."

A few people, however, spoke against the legislation. The opponents --
including the Maryland State Medical Society -- told senators that science
has yet to prove the benefits of using marijuana as a medicine. They also
fear it will send the wrong message to children.

"Medical marijuana is a hoax perpetrated on good people who wish to aid the
sick and dying by pro-drug activists who wish to give marijuana a good
name," Carolyn W. Burns, vice president of Drug Free Kids: America's
Challenge, said in written testimony.