MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL FAILS IN SENATE

A measure that would have allowed Marylanders possessing marijuana for
medical reasons to claim medical use as a court defense - and would have
limited the penalty if found guilty to no more than $100 - failed 5-6
Friday in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee.

Sen. Leo E. Green, D-23rd-Bowie, cast one of the committee's six votes
against the measure. Green is the only Prince George's representative on
the panel.

Maryland law holds that marijuana possession is a misdemeanor, subject to
penalties including a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

The Darrell Putman Compassionate Use Act, which passed the House of
Delegates earlier this session, was sponsored by Del. Donald Murphy,
R-Baltimore, whose bill had more than 50 cosponsors, or more than a third
of the 141-member House.

The measure was named for a Green Beret and Howard County farmer who died
in 1999. Putman found smoking pot helped him cope with lymphoma, and he
lobbied for its medical legalization.

Although marijuana possession is a federal offense, eight states have laws
allowing for its medical use, and federal officials have indicated no
interest in prosecuting such users.

"This is a bad day for patients in Maryland, whose only crime is taking
their medicine," said Billy Rogers of the Marijuana Policy Project, which
lobbies for medical marijuana legislation throughout the country.

"We had an uphill climb in this committee. Last year in this committee, we
lost the vote 7-3; this year by only one vote," he said. "We'll be back
next year, and we're going to win next year."

Rogers said his group will let voters know which legislators "stood in the
way of patients getting their medicine."