ARTICLE Dozenss Testify For Md. Medical Marijuana Bill

By: Dawn White
Updated: March 22, 2012
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ANNAPOLIS, MD - A room full of people packed the Senate Judiciary Proceedings Committee Wednesday afternoon to testify on a medical marijuana bill.

Barry Considine waited for hours to tell the committee how using the drug has helped him deal with the effects of polio.

"The cannabis I've been using medically now for over a decade always seems to work," Considine said.

Several dozen people in favor of the bill testified in Annapolis. Some of those people included patients who said medical marijuana eases their pain without many of the side effects of traditional painkillers.

"This is a medicine that works for me. I have no way of identifying myself as a legitimate patient at this time under the current law in Maryland," said Sarah Eyre, who uses medical marijuana.

Eyre was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2008 and has been using the drug for two years.

"These patients, some of them don't have much time, and so this in effect will take a step forward and address a very real problem," said Sen. David Brinkley, (R) - Frederick County, who is sponsoring the bill.

However, the bill doesn't come without some opposition, especially from Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley (D) and his administration.

"The legislation would pose a potentially significant risk of liabilities to state employees, so one major concern is the bill would put state employees at risk," said Joshua Sharfstein, secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

"I think the governor's position and the administration's position that they would veto the bill is two things. Number one, it's bad policy, and number two, it's cowardly," said Dan Riffle, legislative analyst for the Marijuana Policy Project.

Brinkley will present an amendment to give caregivers a legal defense in court. The bill will include another amendment.

"A patient, in consultation with their physician, will have a document which says, 'This is what I'm doing. I'm under regular contact with the doctor,'" Brinkley said.

Brinkley expects the bill to pass committee and the Senate. He believes it could receive some opposition if it reaches the House.

Sen. Brinkley is a cancer survivor. He says he never used medical marijuana during his treatment.

To read his bill, click here.

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