FERGUSON STICKING TO HIS OPINION ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA

As a rebuttal to the recent letters advocating legalized medical marijuana,
I know my committee deals with all criminal justice issues and therefore it
is my committee that receives expert testimony on this issue. Few, if
anyone, in the law enforcement community want to see this bill passed. In
the states where it has become a state law, the federal laws are still
being enforced, and they regard marijuana as an illegal drug - not a
pharmaceutical.

Also, all prescription drugs go through research and development phases
under federal guidelines. States cannot fulfill health protocols under
National Institutes of Health standards in contradiction of federal drug laws.

Finally, if anyone really believes that drug dealers won't demand
protection under the medical marijuana state statutes, just because the
bill says so, they are naive. They will cry out for protection and
eventually some liberal judge will throw the case out. Then what do we do
with the state laws without federal laws to fall back on?

Nobody in law enforcement wants this headache. I know, because they tell me
so. They tell me because I sit on the committee that must vote on the
issue. Let's wait for the federal government to finish its funding for
research; it won't be a long wait because the feds are working the issue
with their own bills. Let's be patient - for the sake of good medicine for
patients.

TIM FERGUSON, Maryland state senator Taylorsville