FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 10, 2011
Maryland Governor Signs Medical Marijuana Defense and Study Bill
Gov. O’Malley Fulfills Promise to Offer Limited Patient Protections
CONTACT: Morgan Fox, communications manager………………………..202-905-2031 or [email protected]
ANNAPOLIS – Maryland became the 16th state to remove criminal penalties for the medical use of marijuana today when Gov. Martin O’Malley signed SB 308 as promised. The bill allows seriously ill patients to avoid prosecution when charged with marijuana possession and creates a commission to study medical marijuana laws and make recommendations on how Maryland can institute such a program. This is the first time since 2003 that additional protections were considered, and it’s an important step toward protecting medical marijuana patients from arrest and ensuring that they have safe access to their medicine.
“We’re very happy that the Governor signed this bill into law and listened with compassion to seriously ill Marylanders who use marijuana to treat their conditions,” said Dan Riffle, legislative analyst for the Marijuana Policy Project. “We look forward to the study group created here making helpful recommendations to further protect such patients.”
Under the new law, individuals diagnosed with debilitating medical conditions, such as cancer or multiple sclerosis, can avoid conviction if charged with the non-public use or possession of one ounce or less of marijuana. An existing sentencing mitigation will remain part of the law, meaning patients who don’t qualify for the full affirmative defense would still have the opportunity to present evidence of medical necessity and have their sentence reduced to a $100 fine. In addition, a work group consisting of medical, legal, and law enforcement experts would be convened to recommend more comprehensive legislation next year. Advocates hope to be able to use that recommendation to pass a bill that offers patients complete protection from arrest and prosecution.
The work group should have the ability to observe a well-regulated medical marijuana program run by their neighbors in the District of Columbia. In April, the District began implementation of its long-awaited medical marijuana program by accepting applications for licensed and well-regulated cultivation centers and dispensaries. That program should be fully operational later this year.
With more than 124,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. For more information, please visit www.mpp.org.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 21, 2011
CONTACT: Ken Wolski at (609) 394-2137
Attorney General Paula Dow Wrong to Seek Federal Advice on Medical Marijuana
WHO: Attorney General Paula Dow
WHAT: Asked federal officials their plans to punish NJ’s Medicinal Marijuana Program participants
WHEN: April 19, 2011
WHERE: Trenton, NJ
WHY: The federal government insists marijuana has no accepted medical uses in the U.S.
Attorney General Paula Dow sent letters to federal officials on April 19th asking them if they intend to punish anyone associated with New Jersey’s Medicinal Marijuana Program. The attorney general even suggested ways that New Jerseyans might be punished—“civil suit or criminal prosecution,” the letters said.
A more appropriate approach would have been for the attorney general to tell the federal officials that if they dare to interfere with New Jersey’s medical marijuana program, she will sue them and fight them all the way to the Supreme Court, where she will win. The U.S. Supreme Court has already acknowledged (in the Garden Grove decision) that states have the right to determine the proper practice of medicine within each state. In the Garden Grove case the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a lower court’s decision that said: "Congress enacted the Controlled Substances Act to combat recreational drug abuse and curb drug trafficking. Its goal was not to regulate the practice of medicine, a task that falls within the traditional powers of the states.”
Ken Wolski, executive director of CMMNJ said, “There can be no doubt that every aspect of New Jersey’s medical marijuana program concerns access to physician-recommended medicine by desperately ill patients. The 110 pages of regulations promulgated by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services to enact the Medicinal Marijuana Program is a monument to overly-cautious bureaucratic detail. No one could possibly confuse it with drug abuse and drug trafficking. The attorney general should instead be insisting that the federal government reschedule marijuana from its absurd Schedule I status.”
Schedule I drugs have no accepted medical uses in the U.S. New Jersey—along with 14 other states and the District of Columbia—acknowledged medical uses for marijuana through legislation. Another dozen states are considering similar legislation. “It is the federal government that is wrong in this, not New Jersey. State officials should not look to the feds for guidance on medical marijuana,” Wolski added.
Ken Wolski, RN, MPA, Executive Director, Coalition for Medical Marijuana--New Jersey, Inc.
219 Woodside Ave., Trenton, NJ 08618
609.394.2137 www.cmmnj.org [email protected]