[420 Girl]

Maryland - Four Maryland State Delegates from Prince George's County are pushing a change in the state drug laws to allow for medical marijuana. Along with forty of their colleagues from around the state, Delegates Justin Ross, Ben Barnes, James Proctor, and Kris Valderrama have proposed House Bill 712. If it is passed it would create a system for patients to be prescribed marijuana by their doctor. The bill written by Dan Morhaim of Balitmore County has been cross filed in the Senate by Senators Brinkley, Raskin, Colburn, Garagiola, Jacobs, Kittleman, Kramer, Madaleno, Miller, and Zirkin.

Should the State of Maryland pass either HB 712 or SB 627 it would become the 15th state to allow medical marijuana at a time when numerous studies from states like California and Washington are starting to show a surprising rise in crime related to these laws. “Any person making medical marijuana is going to be a target because they have a valuable commodity,” Sgt. John Urquhart of the King County Sheriff’s Department in a story by the New York Times after a prominent medical-marijuana activist shot an armed man who is accused of breaking into his home. "People think if we decriminalize it, the Mexican cartels and Asian gangs are going to walk away. That's not the world I live in," said Scott Kirkland, the police chief in El Cerrito, Calif. who is a vocal critic of these laws. A recent article by the Associated Press provides anecdotal evidence of what police say will happen if these laws continue to pass;

_ A man in Washington state was beaten to death last week with what is believed to be a crowbar after confronting an intruder on the rural property where he was growing cannabis to treat painful back problems.

_ Medical marijuana activist Steve Sarich exchanged gunfire with intruders in his home Monday in Kirkland, Wash., shooting and critically injuring one of them.

_ In California, a boy was shot to death in 2007 while allegedly trying to steal a cancer patient's pot plants from his home garden.

_ A respected magazine editor was killed that same year by robbers who targeted his Northern California home for marijuana and money after hearing that his teenage son was growing pot with a doctor's approval.

_ Robbers killed a security guard at a Los Angeles medical marijuana dispensary in 2008.

Supporters of these laws point to a 2009 report by the Los Angeles Police Department that compared their crime with the same period in 2008 showed crime in fact fell by sharp numbers. According to their report homicides were down by 32%, rape by 12%, robbery by 3%, and grand theft auto by 18%. It is worth noting that the LAPD does not associate these crime drops with the passage of the law.

With the bill moving through the General Assembly Delegate Justin Ross of Prince George's is asking his constituents their opinion through a survey. Most observers doubt it will go into effect this year but believe it has good chances of passing within the next two years or so. What do you think? Should the State of Maryland pass a Medical Marijuana law? Share your thoughts in our comment box below.

http://www.420magazine.com/forums/in...juana-law.html