Maryland's New Marijuana Laws Indicate Growing Support for Medical Use

Maryland passed a measure in the General Assembly this month allowing academic medical centers to distribute marijuana.

“I think the public opinion has changed on this across the political spectrum. People understand that if somebody's sick, they deserve medication,” said Delegate Dan Morhaim, D-Baltimore County, who sponsored the bill.

The legislation established a medical marijuana commission within the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which has the ability to designate academic medical centers to distribute marijuana to patients who have received a recommendation from their physician.

Local leaders Delegate David Rudolph, D-Cecil County, and Senator Nancy Jacobs, R-Cecil/Harford, voted in favor of the bill. In the minority, Senator E.J. Pipkin, R-Cecil/Eastern Shore, opposed it.

Bill sponsor Morhaim said Sinai Hospital in Baltimore has already expressed interest in the program, which will go into effect July 1, 2014, according to state documentation.

The General Assembly also passed a measure that would expand the affirmative legal defense to caregivers.

Despite their success passing medical marijuana, the General Assembly struggled to push legalization measures.

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A bill that would have decriminalized marijuana possession for less than 10 grams passed in the Senate, but never made it out of the House Judiciary Committee.

"I will bring it back next year and every year until we do it," said Sen. Bobby Zirkin, D-Baltimore County, who introduced the bill. "I think the tide of this issue is clearly on our side. Sooner or later it will happen."

Another bill that would have taxed marijuana sales like alcohol never left the House Judiciary Committee.

The bill would have enacted a 50 percent excise tax on marijuana sold wholesale and permitted individuals to grow limited quantities of pot with the purchase of a state-issued identification for $100 per year per plant.

Last September, a special law enforcement initiative in Cecil County uncovered three marijuana growing operations in the western part of the county, where officers found 45 pounds of marijuana and more than $5,000 in cash, according to the Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention.

Those charged with manufacturing marijuana face up to 25 years in prison and a $25,000 fine because it is a felony, according to a statement from the governor's office.

During the November election, constituents in Colorado and Washington approved ballot measures that legalized recreational marijuana usage. Since then, 27 states, including Maryland, have introduced legislation to implement a medical marijuana law, decriminalize possession or tax and regulate marijuana usage, according to the Marijuana Policy Project, an advocacy group based in Washington, D.C.

Capital News Service contributed to this report.