BRINKLEY: FERGUSON MISINFORMED ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL

It is interesting that state Sen. Tim Ferguson thinks Maryland
"should wait for the federal government to fund research" before he
supports medical marijuana legislation.

He also says it is "sincerely wrong to expect state government to
take the lead in the effort." As a cancer survivor and original
sponsor of medical marijuana legislation in Maryland, and as a
continued supporter of this legislation, I disagree with him.

Despite the progress we've made in diagnosis and treatment of
diseases, including cancer, the time it takes to conduct, conclude,
dispute and conterdispute research and the subsequent findings is
never the patient's ally. In essence, he is advocating studying how
to treat the patient while the patient lies dying.

Furthermore, why shouldn't the states take the lead on this issue?
It's past time for the states to lead. Remember the Tenth Amendment?

The purpose behind the legislation is to allow patients and their
health care practitioners to freely explore their options,
particularly when their treatment protocols demand aggressive therapy.

This year another measure has been introduced. HB24 allows a
defendant to introduce evidence of medical necessity at the
sentencing phase of a trial, and forces the court to consider that
evidence. This was introduced by Delegate Thomas Hutchins, a retired
captain in the Maryland State Police.

Insofar as, "Law enforcement and judges don't know how to deal with
dealers of marijuana who might show up in court and plead innocent
because less than 1 percent of their sales are to health patients,"
give me a break. Read the bill. The legislation isn't crafted to
protect those individuals at all.

The whole point of passing a bill in the legislature is to instruct
the judges and law enforcement personnel how to function when
circumstances of medical necessity arise. This legislation seeks to
protect caregivers, patients and licensed medical practitioners from
the long arm of the law.

It would be encouraging for Mr. Ferguson to agree that Maryland can
and should take the lead in this issue, and not rest responsibility
in Washington. The patients of today and tomorrow deserve nothing
less.

DAVID BRINKLEY, Maryland state delegate New Market