NO VOTE FOR MARIJUANA BILL

Lawmakers who support and oppose legalizing marijuana for the terminally
ill passionately debated the bill for nearly an hour Friday night before
their committee chairman abruptly announced the evening session would end
without a vote on the measure.

"I am not going to have a part of something that is in violation of federal
law," said Delegate Joseph Vallario, his voice tinged with anger.

Committee chairmen have broad authority to decide when, and even if, their
committees will vote on a bill. Many measures die each year because the
chairmen refuse to allow voting sessions.

The announcement from Mr. Vallario, D-Prince George's, stunned the
legislators and the few observers in the hearing room. Mr. Vallario then
ordered a handful of lawmakers into his office for a 15-minute, closed-door
session.

During the debate, lawmakers argued with righteous zeal both for and
against the bill, some revealing they only recently changed their minds on
the issue.

Delegate Joseph Getty, R-Carroll, had opposed the bill, even though he felt
an "emotional tug" over the experience of his mother, who died of cancer in
1990.

To the bewilderment of the family, he said, she turned to marijuana. For
her it didn't help.

"But it's always been in the back of my mind that (it didn't work because
of) the anxiety of breaking the law and the apprehension that if she was
caught it would bring a great embarrassment to the family," he said.

Mr. Getty said he was planning to vote in favor of the bill.

But Delegate Anthony O'Donnell, R-Calvert, said lawmakers can't decide
bills with emotion or anecdotes. He noted that MedChi, the state medical
association, and the Maryland State Police both oppose the bill.

The bill has become nearly an obsession for its sponsor, Delegate Donald
Murphy, R-Baltimore County, who has introduced "The Darrell Putman
Compassionate Use Act" on two previous legislative sessions.

Mr. Putman, who operated a carriage business in Frederick County, was an
anti-drug Vietnam War veteran who reluctantly turned to marijuana as he was
fighting lymphoma.

He told his friend, Mr. Murphy, that the drug was fighting his nausea and
helping him to build his appetite, making it easier for him to undergo
chemotherapy. But he worried that using marijuana would threaten his
family, if he were caught.

So he asked Mr. Murphy to sponsor legislation to make marijuana use legal
for the terminally ill. Delegate Louise Snodgrass and David Brinkley, both
cancer survivors, are co-sponsors of the legislation.

As the committee's voting session began, Mr. Murphy told reporters he
thought he had enough votes to get the bill out of committee and then onto
a vote on the floor of the House of Delegates.

One of the unknowns was Delegate Carmen Amedori, R-Carroll. In a speech to
her fellow committee members, Ms. Amedori said she was being "pulled and
tugged and pushed and squeezed" on the issue.

She said she had received a number of e-mail messages from people close to
her that persuaded her to support the bill.

In her remarks, she said she remained against drug use.

"But I believe marijuana has and will continue to help these people who are
truly suffering from a pain we are fortunate enough not to know," she said.

Delegate Ann Marie Doory, D-Baltimore, said she objected to the bill's lack
of controls.

"The law of unintended consequences is still out there," said Ms. Doory,
who serves as Judiciary's vice chairman.

Delegate John Giannetti, D-Prince George's, said marijuana hadn't been
proven to be medically effective.

"Kids will be smoking it. People will be smoking it more. I cannot do that
with my vote," he said.

As the session began, Mr. Vallario passed out a letter from Asa Hutchinson,
the administrator of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, which
said Maryland residents might be confused to think that they could use
marijuana and escape federal penalties.

But to get marijuana, it would still need to be cultivated, distributed and
possessed, all federal crimes, Mr. Hutchinson said.

"The DEA is opposed to it because that's what they're there for," said
Delegate William H. Cole IV, D-Baltimore.

Shortly after that statement, Mr. Vallario halted the debate and summoned
the lawmakers into his office.

Lawmakers were reluctant to reveal the conversation that took place, except
that Mr. Vallario might support a bill that keeps the penalty but allows
courts to be lenient to cancer patients.

Last year, Mr. Vallario bottled up Mr. Murphy's bill after a Senate
committee voted it down. During the 2000 session, Judiciary voted to kill
the bill.