VOTE CANCELED ON ALLOWING MARIJUANA USE BY PATIENTS

A House committee chairman abruptly canceled a vote on a bill to legalize
marijuana use for critically ill patients when he realized the measure
would be approved.

"I'll be damned if I'm going to pass something that's against federal law,"
Del. Joseph F. Vallario Jr. told stunned members of the House Judiciary
Committee last night. "I'm not going to put my hand on something that sends
this kind of message to kids."

The bill, which has bipartisan support, has come before the committee twice
before but has never been voted on. It would allow cancer, AIDS and other
terminally ill patients to use marijuana with a doctor's consent.