Maryland

[palmspringsbum]

Md. Starts To Allow Marijuana Court Plea
Penalty Can Be Cut For Medicinal Use$

By Tim Craig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 1, 2003; Page B01


Silver Spring lawyer Jonathan L. Katz considers it a defense attorney's dream: A Maryland law taking effect today allows anyone convicted of possessing marijuana to argue for a drastically reduced sentence if the drug was used for medical purposes.

"How many people out there don't have any kind of physical pain that marijuana might alleviate?" asked Katz, who specializes in defending people charged with marijuana-related offenses. "People with sports injuries and back injuries. For people with asthma, marijuana can help breathing. For anorexics, it can help stimulate the appetite. There are a whole bunch of people who like marijuana who can now try to use this defense."

Prosecutors say they are a bit nervous, noting that the law lacks language defining just who can use the defense and how a judge should interpret it.

"All I can assume is now we will have defendants come into court with the health section of High Times [magazine] and try to tell me Timothy Leary prescribed use of this," said Harford County State's Attorney Joseph I. Cassilly (R).

Maryland's unique approach to medical marijuana -- reducing penalties for possession rather than actually legalizing the drug -- is being watched by other states as a possible model for how to handle the prickly issue.

The first-if-its-kind legislation has also drawn the attention of the White House, which lobbied hard against it, and of a national marijuana advocacy group, which argues that the measure does not go far enough.

Locally, though, doctors, lawyers and judges wonder how the law will play out in county courthouses and state appellate courts.

The General Assembly's intent was clear last spring when it approved the bill, a compromise between lawmakers who wanted to show compassion for people with severe illnesses and those who wanted to prevent outright legalization.

<img src=bin/tucker-kathleen.jpg align=right title="Kathleen Tucker was not allowed to argue in her defense that she used marijuana for medicinal purposes.">Legislators spoke of friends and relatives who had depended on marijuana to ease the pain of cancer and other diseases. Some recalled the case of Kathleen Maria "Kitty" Tucker, who was arrested for growing marijuana in her Takoma Park home four years ago. A judge would not let her argue that she used it to relieve fibromyalgia, a disorder that causes muscle pain.

"I could not bring any of that evidence forward," said Tucker, who was sentenced to six months' probation and a $500 fine after she agreed to a plea bargain. The judge later agreed to strike the conviction from her record if she completed probation.

The new law limits the fine for marijuana possession to $100 if the defendant can prove that the drug was used as a medicine. Otherwise, the defendant could be fined as much as $1,000 and spend one year in jail.

Although the measure instructs judges to consider "medical necessity" before sentencing, it does not specify what illness a defendant must have or what evidence the defense needs to produce to argue the case. It doesn't differentiate between people with physical or psychological conditions.

"This is somewhat open-ended," said former state delegate Donald E. Murphy (R), who lobbied for passage of the legislation. "It really leaves it up to the judge's discretion."

Katz said defense lawyers would constantly test the law's reach. They would be neglecting their clients if they did not try to find out what "physical, emotional or psychological pain" causes them to use the drug. "Sometimes people are self-medicating without even realizing it," he said.

He said he expects to call doctors to testify about how marijuana can help some patients.

T. Michael Preston, executive director of the Maryland State Medical Society, said his organization recommends against such testimony because federal law prohibits doctors from prescribing the drug. Federal authorities have threatened to revoke the medical licenses of doctors who recommend marijuana to their patients.

James N. Vaughan, chief judge of the District Court of Maryland, which hears most marijuana possession cases, said he has seldom heard the medicinal-use defense in his courtroom and doubted that defendants would go through "some great, elaborate ruse" for an offense that carries a fairly light sentence.

In 2001, 17,676 people in Maryland were charged with possessing marijuana, according to FBI statistics. Since the mid-1990s, some have argued in court that they used the drug as medicine.

In 1995, an HIV-positive farmer from Charles County was charged with possessing 10 grams of marijuana with intent to sell it. Jerome Edward Mensch, who was then 43, argued that he needed marijuana to counteract the side effects of prescription drugs.

After a legal tussle, a Circuit Court judge ruled that Mensch could make the argument to a jury, though he ultimately pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation.

Four years later, Tucker was denied the right to make the same argument in Montgomery. Tucker said she hopes that the new law will "offer some relief" to people who use the drug as medicine but worries that it does not go far enough.

Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said he, too, is concerned that Maryland's law is too vague and confusing to be effective. The bill that passed the General Assembly is is much different from the original, which would have created a closely supervised program and provided terminally ill patients with permits to possess as much as three ounces of marijuana.

Del. Joseph F. Vallario Jr. (D-Prince George's), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, rewrote the bill because he worried that it violated federal laws banning marijuana possession.

Del. Anthony J. O'Donnell (R-Calvert), House minority whip, said the final version has "many potential flaws" because the state was trying to pass a law that could stand up to federal scrutiny. "It was a very good attempt to address the situation, but the fix is not at the state level. The federal government has to change the federal law so medical marijuana can be prescribed," O'Donnell said.

But the Bush administration has been stepping up the pressure on the nine states that have legalized medical marijuana. In those states, qualified patients can possess the drug without risk of prosecution under state law, although possession remains a federal crime.

The White House lobbied Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) to veto the Maryland legislation last spring. Ehrlich refused and became the first Republican governor to sign a medical marijuana bill.

Montgomery County State's Attorney Douglas F. Gansler (D) said he hopes that terminally ill patients will never have to plead their cases in court.

"The bill does send a message to prosecutors and the law enforcement community that if someone is possessing marijuana, and doing so legitimately for medicinal purposes, then perhaps that is not where the resources of the law enforcement community ought to be implemented," Gansler said.



© 2003 The Washington Post Company

Maryland Senate Bill 502

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New DPA Office Works for Reform in Maryland

The Drug War Chronicle

Friday, April 14, 2006


Drug Policy Alliance focused on criminal justice policy reform in Maryland during the 2006 legislative session, which ended April 10. A new local DPA office is now laying the groundwork to return to the state legislature in 2007 with an even stronger impact.

DPA's new DC metro area office worked on three priority bills this year with a coalition that included Justice Maryland, a state-based grassroots group; Justice Policy Institute, a national organization which does research and media work to support sentencing and drug policy reform; and the Maryland Office of the Public Defenders, which provides statewide indigent defense. The coalition, called <a href="http://www.treatnotjail.org/" target="_blank">the Campaign for Treatment Not Incarceration</a>, focused its 2006 legislative efforts on sentencing reform and voting rights. None of the bills passed, but the coalition's work educating legislators and getting media coverage around the state helped create dialogue about the need for reform. This heightened awareness will position the issues to be revisited in the 2007 legislative session.

HB 603, sponsored by Del. Salima Marriot, would have automatically restored voting rights to people who have completed their sentence for a felony conviction. Right now, the process of regaining the ability to vote in Maryland is so punitive and confusing that it disenfranchises more than 140,000 residents who should have a voice in the democratic process, 60% of whom are African American.

According to a July 2002 Harris Interactive poll, 80% of Americans believe that all people who have completed their sentences should have the right to vote. The same poll found that over 60% of Americans believe that citizens on probation or parole should have the right to vote. The Campaign for Treatment Not Incarceration will work over the next year to help Maryland law move into step with the wishes of voters on this issue.

HB 877, sponsored by Del. Darryl Kelley, and SB 592, sponsored by Sen. Ralph Hughes, would both have restored some decision-making power to judges during sentencing. These bills would have given judges the discretion to suspend a portion or all of a mandatory minimum sentence on a case-by-case basis. The bill also sought to make people sentenced under a mandatory sentence eligible for parole.

In addition to this coalition work, DPA also focused on other Maryland bills this year. Naomi Long, director of DPA's new office, submitted written and oral testimony in support of House Bill 656, a successful procedural clarification for judges on the 2004 Treatment Not Incarceration bill. The bill unanimously passed both houses and was signed into law by the governor. In 2004, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that Maryland was one of 11 states that experienced a decline in its prison population, and most of the reduction was drug prisoners.

The DC metropolitan area office also partnered with Americans for Safe Access (ASA) on medical marijuana legislation, which would have removed the criminal conviction for patients who successfully offer a medical necessity defense under Maryland's current Compassionate Use Act. Though the legislation did not pass, DPA and ASA are committed to making sure patients in Maryland have the protections that they deserve.

DPA also worked successfully to block bad legislation. This included a bill that would have created drug-free zones within 1,000 feet of community or recreation centers, despite <a href="http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/032306schoolzone.cfm" target="_blank">overwhelming evidence</a> showing that school zones are ineffective and racist.

All this work in Maryland was made possible by the opening of the new District of Columbia metropolitan area DPA office. Over the next year, the office will be building its presence in Maryland so it can contribute to even greater reforms in 2007. If you would like to be involved, please <a href="mailto:nlong@drugpolicy.org">contact the office director</a>, Naomi Long.

[Midnight toker]

Greenades, Marijuana Gumballs, Identified by Maryland Police, Used by High School Students

By PRWEB
Jul 22, 2006, 09:31
The Magic City Morning Star

HOWARD COUNTY, MD -- Two bright yellow gumballs with smiley faces were seized from two high school students by police at the Howard County High School. A police officer assigned to the high school witnessed the gumballs being purchased by the students while passing between classes. The gumballs were sent to the Maryland State Police-Forensic Sciences Division Laboratory in Pikesville, Maryland who determined there was approximately one gram of high-grade marijuana packed inside each gumball. The gumballs came wrapped in colorful tin foil labeled as "Greenades" with a marijuana leaf on the wrapper and detailed instructions for use.

With this discovery, concern over Greenades is growing among parents in the area, not only for the teenagers in the local student body but also over what happens when these drug-using students bring these gumballs home and their younger brothers or sisters get a hold of them, or worse yet, curious toddlers encounter them. Most experts agree that there is enough THC (the active chemical in marijuana) in one gram of high grade marijuana to produce a lethal overdose that could result in death if swallowed by a toddler.

J.T. Daily, Director of Drug Education for Narconon Arrowhead, one of the country's leading drug rehabilitation and education centers, said, "The way drugs are being marketed and packaged these days to encourage kids to buy and use them is getting pretty sophisticated. The purpose, of course, is to create future clientele for drugs and what better-targeted market for a pusher than kids. They are young, experimental by nature and have the money to buy it. If they try it and like it, they could end up being a permanent customer that one day ends up in our rehabilitation facility, in jail or dead."

Narconon Arrowhead's Daily went on to say, "The only way for parents to compete with the pro-drug influences that are present in our society today is for every concerned parent to take the time to get educated on the subject of drugs and drug addiction so they can speak to their kids with authority on the subject. Next is to communicate to kids honestly and openly and share this information with them. Don't scold them or try to scare or punish them into not doing drugs - this rarely works and can actually worsen the problem. Parents can be stern, but in a caring fashion, when encouraging their children not to use drugs. These are a few powerful tools that parents can use in guiding kids to make the right choices when it comes to drugs."

To obtain more information on how you can help educate your children about the dangers of drug and alcohol use, or if you know someone who needs help with addiction, contact Narconon Arrowhead's information hotline 1-800-468-6933 or visit www.stopaddiction.com.



© Copyright 2002-2006 by Magic City Morning Star

[Midnight toker]

Fables, Fictions, and Reefer Madness

By Redford Givens © 2006
Aug 20, 2006, 14:45
The Magic City Morning Star


Re: Greenades, Marijuana Gumballs, Identified by Maryland Police, Used by High School Students

It was astounding to see Narconon Arrowhead making the claim that "Most experts agree that there is enough THC (the active chemical in marijuana) in one gram of high grade marijuana to produce a lethal overdose that could result in death if swallowed by a toddler." Astounding because marijuana is the least toxic active drug known to man.

Claims that eating marijuana can cause death by a THC overdose are utterly false because raw marijuana contains very little active THC. Raw marijuana contains THC acids and precursor compounds that must be converted to neutral THC by heating or extracting with alcohol to have any effect. This does not happen when marijuana is ingested without cooking. It is utterly impossible to cause a fatal THC reaction eating raw marijuana.

THC itself has no known toxic dose. Not one peer reviewed study agrees that one-gram of pure THC could cause death if swallowed by a toddler, let alone eating a gram of marijuana containing very little active THC.

DEA and FDA approval of moving Marinol (THC and sesame oil) from Schedule II to Schedule III as a safe and effective substance for medical use with a lower potential for abuse than the drugs in schedules I and II contradicts the simultaneous claim that THC in marijuana is very dangerous and must remain a Schedule I substance along with Heroin. The research for rescheduling Marinol did not find any lethal dose for THC demolishing claims of THC toxicity.

Marinol's Schedule III listing contradicts all claims that the THC in marijuana should be a Schedule I substance. Incidentally, the sesame oil in Marinol is far more toxic than the THC!

This is the hypocrisy and pure fraud that Narconon Arrowhead seeks to abet and imitate.

Researchers have great difficulty determining the lethal dose for marijuana because the sheer volume of plant material required causes death long before a toxic reaction can occur. A deadly dose of marijuana would require eating hundreds of pounds of cooked marijuana in a few minutes. Even a toddler would have to consume several hundred pounds of pre-cooked cannabis to have a lethal reaction. Consuming so much marijuana or anything else would cause death by choking.

DEA Administrative Law Judge Francis L. Young found that a lethal dose of marijuana would require an adult to smoke 1,500 pounds of cannabis in 15 minutes. That would mean absorbing more than 75 pounds of pure THC in the smoke.

It is now known that THC binds to specific receptors in the brain and throughout the human body where a natural cannabis compound called anandamide normally attaches. These natural cannabinoid receptors enable the body to digest and expel marijuana compounds without any toxic injury whatsoever. The human body's ability to metabolize THC and other marijuana compounds harmlessly is the reason 5,000 years of history fail to show a single death caused by ingesting or smoking marijuana.

Narconon Arrowhead's absurd fiction about "killer weed" mirrors the hysterical fables, fictions and false witness used to outlaw marijuana in 1937:

"The primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races."
"Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality and death."
"Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind."
"[Smoking] one [marihuana] cigarette might develop a homicidal mania, probably to kill his brother."
Despite many outrageous drug crusader claims, science provides no logical reason for outlawing marijuana.

Since changing their marijuana policy, the Netherlands brought down its heroin death rate by 50% while heroin deaths in the US quadrupled. That is one of the consequences of a deadly marijuana prohibition policy.

In 2005, California State Superintendent Jack O'Connell urged all California schools to drop the Narconon anti-drug education program after a state evaluation concluded that its curriculum offers inaccurate and unscientific information. Narconon Arrowhead is no longer allowed to peddle their Reefer Madness lies in Los Angeles, San Francisco and most other school districts in California.

The Oklahoma State Board of Mental Health concluded that: "No scientifically well-controlled independent, long-term outcome studies were found that directly and clearly establish the effectiveness of the Narconon program for the treatment of chemical dependency and the more credible evidence establishes Narconon's program is not effective." Narconon has been denied certification in Oklahoma because the treatment course formulated by the late science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard is unscientific and potentially dangerous.

Narconon Arrowhead is an unreliable source of information about drugs and an ineffective treatment organization.

Sources:<ul><li>Not one major study supports the concept of drug prohibition</li>
<li>Marihuana: A Signal of Misunderstanding -
Commissioned by President Richard M. Nixon, March, 1972 </li>
<li>Decision of DEA Administrative Law Judge Francis L. Young 1988 - pages 53-69</li>
<li>US Government lies used to outlaw marijuana</li>
<li>The Consumers Union Report - Licit and Illicit Drugs</li>
<li>Scientology-linked teachings inaccurate, superintendent says</li>
<li>Scientology link to public schools</li>
<li>What Narconon tells students</li>
<li>State Mental Health Board Denies Narconon Certification Bid</li>
<li>Scientology course potentially dangerous, says Oklahoma report</li>
</ul>

© Copyright 2002-2006 by Magic City Morning Star

[Midnight toker]

Seniors and street drugs not so unlikely a pairing


09/20/06
by Chris Burroughs
The North East Reporter


Street drugs and senior citizens would seem an unlikely combination.

Not so, some seniors found out at a meeting Sept. 18 at the Rosedale Senior Center.

Dudley Greer with the Baltimore County Bureau of Substance Abuse, a division of the county Department of Health, spoke to a small group about the effects of marijuana, then moved on to topics such as cocaine, alcohol and the issue of medical marijuana.

"Because the baby boomer generation is coming of age and there was more recreational drug use with the baby boomers, the expectation is that we will begin to see more people with more long-term effects from recreational drug use," Greer said.

According to the Department of Aging Web site, the number of adults over age 50 entering rehabilitation will increase from 62 million in 2002 to 75 million in 2010.

The site also said that seniors are abusing prescription drugs and alcohol, as well as illegal drugs such as marijuana and cocaine.

The participants asked about other drugs that are abused among seniors, and Greer said cocaine and alcohol, in addition to marijuana, are the three most abused by seniors.

One participant, who asked to be referred to only by his first name of John, asked about the medical use of marijuana and if it was a crime.

Greer confirmed that it was, saying that there are some in the medical community who believe there are medical benefits to marijuana, but did not discuss it any further saying it was mostly a political issue.

After the meeting, John, who has rheumatoid arthritis and is on disability, said he uses marijuana to relieve the pain from his condition, along with the prescription medication Celebrex.

He also said that his parents both died of cancer and that his mother had trouble with chemotherapy, leading him to believe that marijuana could have helped her.

"It has never been legalized for medical purposes. It is just stupid law as far as I am concerned. It is not like I fake a disease. I'm on disability for it. If the United States government can supply people with it, then why not?" he said.

Another participant, Al Muehlberger, said it was a topic that is prevalent and discussed a great deal, but the information was not always complete.

"I wanted to learn more about it because there is so much in the news. It seems to me that when I read about the medical uses of marijuana, it is something we should pursue in earnest - I think nationally," he said.

E-mail Chris Burroughs at Chris Burroughs@patuxent.com

[palmspringsbum]

Md. lawmaker pushes bill to study medical marijuana

By Kathleen Miller | The Baltimore Sun

8:06 PM EDT, March 24, 2009


Maryland advocates for medical marijuana say the state is sending mixed messages about using the drug to treat debilitating illnesses.

They are hoping to persuade lawmakers to create a task force to study the issue.

In 2003, the Maryland General Assembly approved less severe fines for people convicted of marijuana possession who can prove a medical necessity for the drug in court.

Seriously ill people can still be arrested, however, and fined up to $100 if convicted of possession or use of marijuana or related paraphernalia, even if they prove in court they have a medical necessity. Otherwise, violators are subject to fines of up to $1,000 and can face up to a year in jail for simple possession or use of the drug.

Delegate Henry Heller, D-Montgomery, said the 2003 law was "well-intentioned," but gives people a "false sense of security."

Heller, who says he doesn't use medical marijuana himself, said he is sponsoring legislation to study the issue after some his neighbors in a Silver Spring senior community told him they wanted to use marijuana to treat severe illnesses but were afraid of running afoul of the law.

Heller's proposal is to have a task force staffed by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene study legal and feasibility issues related to the research, use and procurement of medical marijuana. The group would have to issue a recommendation to repeal or maintain the state's current policy for medical marijuana.

Thirteen states have removed criminal penalties for patients who use and possess marijuana with their doctor's approval or certification, according to a Maryland Department of Legislative Services analysis. The task force would require additional general fund expenditures, however, to research and produce the report.

A number of medical marijuana advocates told the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday that Maryland is sending mixed messages about using marijuana to provide relief from debilitating illnesses such as cancer or HIV.

Howard County resident Suzi Rank told lawmakers she has used marijuana to battle the nausea that accompanied chemotherapy and steroid treatment for cancer and a blood disease.

Rank said she tried eight different anti-nausea medications from her doctor and was hospitalized twice for dehydration before she tried marijuana and "it helped like nothing else had."

"I have been a law-abiding citizen my whole life except for using marijuana," Rank said. "I feel like I am a typical medical marijuana patient, we are not out dealing drugs, we are your average person. I feel like I had to choose between my life, losing my life and breaking the law."

<span class=postbold>On the Net</span>

Read House Bill 1339: http://mlis.state.md.us/2009rs/fnotes/b ... hb1339.pdf

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Medical marijuana

<span class=postbigbold>Our view: Maryland is sending mixed messages about the use of marijuana for people with serious illnesses who are in need of relief</span>

The Balitimore Sun | March 30, 2009

For patients suffering from cancer and other debilitating illnesses, the medical use of marijuana can relieve symptoms such as pain, inflammation and nausea in many cases. Currently, 13 states, including California, Colorado, Maine, Michigan, Rhode Island and Vermont, allow the medical use marijuana with a doctor's approval or certification. And although possession of the drug remains illegal under federal law, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said last week that the Justice Department will no longer go after small dispensaries that sell cannabis for medical use so long as they comply with state laws.

For all these reasons, a bill sponsored by Montgomery County Del. Henry B. Heller that would require the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to rethink Maryland's policy on medical marijuana deserves serious consideration.

Delegate Heller's bill does not propose legalizing marijuana; it would not give drug dealers a license to peddle their wares. Rather, it would create a task force of health professionals to study the legal and practical implications of allowing marijuana to be used solely for medical purposes. At the very least, it would encourage officials to confront the glaring inconsistencies in state law so that patients, physicians and operators of medical marijuana dispensaries would know exactly where they stood.

Right now, the state is sending mixed signals about the legality of marijuana for medical use. In 2003, the General Assembly sharply reduced penalties for patients convicted of marijuana possession if they could prove a medical necessity in court. But people with serious illnesses can still be arrested and fined up to $100 for possession, even if they prove a medical necessity. Mr. Heller says the 2003 law has had the unintended consequence of giving people a "false sense of security." He cites constituents in a senior citizens home who say they want to use marijuana to relieve symptoms of major illnesses but don't want to break the law.

As Maryland's population ages and more people experience chronic health problems that could be successfully treated with medical marijuana, state officials will need to draw a bright line between legal and illegal use of the drug that sends a consistent message to the public. The study proposed by Delegate Heller is a first step toward a resolution of this matter.