[420 Girl]

Sponsors of a bill to legalize medical marijuana in Maryland said Thursday the Senate may approve the measure, but it could be several years before it wins the approval of the House of Delegates.

The Senate measure would allow pharmacies to distribute marijuana to patients who receive authorization from a physician with whom they have had ongoing medical relationships. It would also re-categorize marijuana as a highly regulated pain medication like morphine, instead of keeping it in the same group of drugs as ******. Ten senators have signed on as sponsors of the legislation, including Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, a Democrat, and Senate Republican leader Allan Kittleman.

Sen. Jamie Raskin, D-Montgomery, presented the bill on the Senate floor Thursday as "the exact opposite" of California's medical marijuana program, where the state doesn't license the growers or dispensers of medical marijuana and patients do not have to prove a long-term relationship with a doctor.

The Maryland proposal calls for state-run production centers that supporters say would be closely monitored and licensed by the state. Pharmacies would also be licensed to distribute the drug. In addition, people could only receive prescriptions from a doctor who'd treated them for a while and could attest that alternatives have not worked.

"People have a right to deal with medical pain," Raskin said.

Proponents of the measure argue Maryland is currently sending "mixed messages" to people who use medical marijuana. In 2003, Maryland approved a law limiting sentencing to a $100 fine for people who use marijuana if they have a medical excuse. But critics of that law say it still drives people whose pain could be alleviated by marijuana into alleys to buy from drug dealers.

"This is the bill that ousts the criminal drug dealers," Raskin said.

Republican Sen. Andy Harris, an obstetric anesthesiologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital, questioned whether doctors would flock to Maryland to enrich themselves under the legislation by becoming a grower, a dispenser and a prescriber of medical marijuana.

"This will solve our physician shortage in Maryland," Harris said. "I guarantee that."

Harris asked for time to draft amendments to the measure to ensure greater oversight of physicians, noting the bill did not specify how a doctor who overprescribed marijuana would be punished.

Senate President Miller delayed a vote on the legislation to Friday morning, telling reporters the measure was "already dead in the House," where two committees have formed a working group to evaluate a similar bill but have not sent it to the floor.

Alexandra Hughes, a spokeswoman for House Speaker Michael Busch, said the working group supports the idea of medical marijuana but wanted additional time to work on the practical aspects and implementation of a program.

"Its chances of passing both chambers are nil," Miller said, adding that he wanted the Senate to approve the bill to lay the groundwork for future years.

"It's a very important issue and I think the people want it," Miller said. "The bill is very tightly drafted and I think it's a good start. Sometimes it takes one or two years of passing a bill before people get used to it."

Fourteen other states allow use of medical marijuana.


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