Medical marijuana workgroup makes recommendations for 2012 legislative session
After minor improvements to law last year, patients hope to see comprehensive, effective legislation passed in 2012
Last year, MPP won hard-fought improvements to Maryland's medical marijuana law. We brought Montel Williams to Annapolis in an effort to build
momentum, and MPP attorneys
testified alongside patients and medical experts on
the need for more complete legal protections. Thankfully, we were able usher
through a bill that gives patients an affirmative defense against conviction
for possession of marijuana if they can show they have been diagnosed with a
debilitating medical condition. Governor Martin O’Malley signed the bill on May
10, and it became law on June 1, 2011. You can read the full text of the law here.
MPP's
Dan Riffle and Karen O'Keefe in Annapolis with Sen. Brinkley, Sen.
Raskin, other legislators, and several of the state's most committed
patients to watch Governor O'Malley sign SB 308.
In
addition to codifying more explicit legal protections for possessing marijuana,
the bill also established a workgroup to draft more comprehensive legislation
that would allow patients to legally obtain medical marijuana. MPP’s own Karen
O’Keefe was appointed by Governor O’Malley to the workgroup, along with
legislators, medical professionals, and representatives of Maryland law
enforcement groups.
After meeting several times through the fall and
failing to find a consensus, the workgroup settled on drafting two separate legislative proposals.
The first provides for distribution through “academic research institutions” in
Maryland. The second, which was supported by medical marijuana sponsors in the
legislature — Delegate Dan Morhaim and Senators Brinkely and Raskin — provides for distribution through dispensaries
and tasking physicians with oversight. Because several workgroup members signed
on in support of both models, each received support from a majority of
workgroup members.
Our task in 2012 will be to ensure that the legislature looks closely at both
models and passes a workable law that gives patients effective access to
doctor-recommended medicine. If you’d like to be the first to know when next
year’s effort gets underway, please subscribe to our free email
alerts.
Marijuana
laws in Maryland
For medical purposes:
As of June 1, 2011, patients
whose doctors have diagnosed them with a debilitating medical condition
(including a condition that is “severe and resistant to conventional
medicine”) can assert the medical use of marijuana as an affirmative defense.
In addition to having a debilitating condition, patients will need to show that
the doctor who made the diagnosis was one with whom the patient has an ongoing,
bona-fide physician-patient relationship, and that marijuana is likely to provide
him or her with therapeutic or palliative relief. Finally, the defense Is not
available to anyone in possession of more than one ounce of marijuana or who
uses marijuana in a public place.
For patients who don’t qualify
for the full affirmative defense, there is also a sentencing mitigation
whereby, upon conviction, he or she can present evidence of “medical
necessity.” If the court agrees, the maximum penalty that can be imposed is a
$100 fine.
For non-medical purposes:
Possession of any amount of
marijuana — even as little as a single gram — can land you in jail for up to a
year, in addition to a fine of up to $1,000. Troublingly, the arrest rate for
African-Americans in Maryland is almost 20% higher than the national average,
and over three times that of whites in the state. For more on the negative consequences of Maryland's marijuana laws, check out this thorough analysis from Jon Gettman, Ph.D.
A better approach would be
decriminalizing marijuana, meaning those caught in possession of a modest
amount would be given only a civil fine, without the possibility of jail time,
saving valuable law enforcement resources. Take a moment to urge your legislator to consider this sensible alternative .
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