MEDICAL MARIJUANA ADVANCES IN MD.

House Votes to Ease Punishment for Patients

The Maryland House of Delegates took a first step yesterday toward
legalizing the use of marijuana by patients suffering the ravages of
cancer, AIDS and other diseases.

The House voted 80 to 56 for bill that would create a court defense for
people who use the drug for medicinal purposes.

Under the measure, if defendants can prove to a judge or jury that they
used marijuana exclusively for medical reasons, they would be subject to a
$100 fine, instead of the current penalty -- a $1,000 fine and up to a year
in jail.

"This is a huge victory for cancer and AIDS patients, because it will keep
them out of jail," said Del. Donald Murphy (R-Baltimore). "It's a critical
first step."

Eight states have legalized marijuana for medical use, though only Hawaii
did so by way of the state legislature. The other states held referendum
votes on the issue. No such provision exists in Virginia, and advocates in
the District have been fighting in the U.S. District Court to put a measure
on the ballot. Sixty-nine percent of Washington residents supported the
medical use of marijuana in a 1998 referendum. But immediately afterward,
congressional overseers passed legislation that banned the drug's use for
medical purposes in the capital.

The Maryland proposal would still be subject to scrutiny in the Senate,
where the idea has been coolly received in past years.

Support in the House relied on changes that kept the bill from directly
contradicting federal laws against marijuana use. But even with those
changes, a sizable number of lawmakers voiced concern about the bill.

"It's the camel's nose under the tent," said Del. Theodore J. Sophocleus
(D-Anne Arundel), who argued that the bill would pave the way for the
drug's legalization.

He and others also objected to what they said was the narrow scope of the
measure, which would create no legal way for someone to buy or sell the
drug, and would not permit someone to grow even limited quantities.

Backers of the bill did not answer that question, focusing instead on the
measure's potential to aid those who seek relief from pain.

"What it will do is eliminate the threat and fear of jail for those
people," Murphy said.

Murphy became an unlikely pitchman for the medical marijuana provision
three years ago, after he was approached by a constituent who was dying of
cancer. Darrell Putman, a fellow Republican who has since died, told him
that smoking the drug eased the intense nausea he felt after chemotherapy.

Murphy, a self-described "law-and-order Republican," adopted the cause. He
had little success at first.

His colleagues viewed the issue as a political loser. The subject, debated
for three decades in this country, presses emotional buttons among cancer
survivors, the AIDS community and anti-drug activists. Even lawmakers who
are sympathetic to the concept worry that permitting the use of marijuana
for medical reasons could encourage abuse and lead to full legalization.

One such anti-drug activist, Joyce Nalepka of Silver Spring, said yesterday
that she viewed the notion of a medical exception as "a fraud and a hoax."

Murphy has slowly convinced members of the House Judiciary Committee that
the idea has more support in Maryland than they previously believed. He has
recruited dozens of the bill's backers, including several who were
seriously ill, to testify in Annapolis. And he shared with colleagues a
University of Maryland poll that found that 73 percent of Marylanders
support medical marijuana.

This year, co-sponsors of the bill include House Majority Leader Maggie L.
McIntosh (D-Baltimore) and the GOP House leadership.

Last week, surprising the Judiciary Committee's chairman, Murphy rounded up
enough support to bring the measure to the House floor for a vote.
Yesterday, he told House members that the action was desperately needed.

"There are 24,000 new cases of cancer in Maryland each year, and they don't
have time to wait," Murphy said.