MEDICAL MARIJUANA URGED

Supporters of a bill that would allow limited medical use of marijuana
tried to convince delegates Wednesday of its necessity in Annapolis.

Co-sponsored by more than 50 legislators, the Darrell Putman Compassionate
Use Act would permit doctors to authorize individuals suffering from
serious illnesses to grow and possess small amounts of the plant.

Putman was a Howard County farmer and cancer patient who smoked marijuana
for pain relief and became an ouspoken advocate for its usage; he died in 1999.

"Who should decide what medications are right for these terminally ill
people?" the measure's chief sponsor, Baltimore County Del. Donald E.
Murphy, asked at a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee. "Doctors.
Not you, me or the governor. Doctors."

The panel is chaired by Del. Joseph F. Vallario Jr., D-27th-Upper Marlboro.

Murphy's bill would allow doctors to license patients with cancer,
epilepsy, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis and Crohn's disease to use marijuana
- - which some medical evidence suggests can improve appetite, counteract
nausea and alleviate other symptoms of those diseases and their treatments.

A number of those who spoke in favor of the legislation were former cancer
patients, including Frederick County Del. David R. Brinkley and Harford
County Dels. Charles R. Boutin and B. Daniel Riley.

Though none of the lawmakers said they had used marijuana for pain relief,
all expressed the view that it could help those suffering from the side
effects of cancer treatment.

"There were lots of patients who couldn't eat, couldn't get anything down,"
said Brinkley, adding that various physicians had expressed favorable views
of the legislation. "We are on the right track in trying to press for this."

Murphy has tried unsuccessfully to get similar legislation passed during
the last two sessions, though support has grown.

Marijuana for medical purposes has been legalized in eight states, but its
possession remains a federal crime.

The U.S. Supreme Court in 2001 held that there's no exception for medical
use, but didn't strike down state laws allowing it.

Robert N. McDonald, chief counsel of Opinions and Advice for the Maryland
Attorney General, told lawmakers that this ruling did not preclude Maryland
from passing its own legislation.

Riley described a friend in so much pain from cancer that - declining a
suggestion from friends that he try marijuana - he elected to stop
treatments and to die.

"We buried Larry two months ago," said Riley, who fought back his emotions
while speaking. "I feel that if we, as a legislative body, could have been
more compassionate in our decisions, maybe Larry would still be here today."

Baltimore Del. Shirley Nathan-Pulliam, a nurse, said that she had
originally opposed the legislation, but after reflection had changed her mind.

"I've seen cancer patients suffer from pain you and I cannot begin to
explain," Nathan-Pulliam said. "They've been given every narcotic doctors
could give them - demerol, cocaine. If someone is desperate and in pain,
and they go out to purchase marijuana, they'll be arrested. They should
have the legal right to that."

Legislators raised several questions of the bill's supporters, including
the likelihood of medical marijuana users - even if licensed for such use -
being arrested by federal officials, how police would react to medical
marijuana users, and how insurance companies might become involved when
marijuana is advised.

"Are we putting our citizens in harm's way of federal law?" asked Baltimore
Del. Robert A. Zirkin. "Could we still have the feds come in and arrest our
citizens under federal law?"

"In the eight states that have this, not one person has been arrested for
using small amounts of marijuana for medical purposes," responded Murphy,
adding: "We're trying to make a distinction between recreational use and
medical. Is there potential for abuse? Sure. But the people who're gonna
abuse this are already abusing it."

Montgomery Del. Carol Petzold asked witnesses how they obtained marijuana.

"I was able to get it by contacting a drug dealer," said cancer patient
Paul Boone. "People I didn't want in my house - I wasn't brought up in a
drug-infested neighborhood."

Boone added that if the bill passes, "I wouldn't have to deal with an
unsavory element any more."

Though several letters and statements opposing the bill came to the
committee - including one from former federal drug czar and Empower America
official William Bennett - only one opponent spoke at the hearing.

"Unfortunately this law goes too far beyond" the issue of pain relief, said
Douglas P. Steigler of the Family Protection Lobby, who expressed concern
that the bill could usher in full legalization of marijuana and that under
the bill, it's use wouldn't be controlled.

"If you could take somebody to a place where this marijuana could be
smoked, or inhaled, then you could control how it was used, doctors could
say how much could be used," Steigler said.

"I'm opposed to this bill because you're legalizing people to grow
marijuana in a situation you can't control."

Bennett weighed in with a March 12 letter to Vallario.

"As a Maryland resident and former director of the Office of National Drug
Control Policy, I believe that permitting medical marijuana is a bad idea,"
wrote Bennett. "Bad for the patients who would take it and bad for the
community at large. The increased availability of marijuana that would
follow legalizing it for medical usage would lead to increased use of the
drug - by children as well as adults."

If the committee favorably votes out the bill, it will be voted on by the
full House. If it passes the House, a Senate committee will then take up
the issue.