On Tuesday of this week, lawmakers, patients and advocates held a press conference to announce their intent to update the current medical marijuana legislation in Maryland. The new legislation would allow patients to obtain their medication through state-licensed dispensing centers. Currently, the Darrel Putnam Compassionate Use Act passed in 2003, provides medical cannabis users with a limited affirmative defense in court that limits their punishment to a $100 fine. Users are, however, still subject to criminal conviction
Sponsor, Del Morhaim, a board certified physician in internal medicine and emergency medicine, said “This bill will provide Maryland’s doctors and patients with another tool in the toolbox, to be used safely and responsibly like any other therapy.”
The Senate bill’s co-sponsor, Senator Brinkley, who has survived cancer, feels that ‘it shouldn’t be the policy of this or any other state to arrest, prosecute, or imprison a person who uses marijuana under a doctor’s advice to alleviate pain and suffering.”
