January, 25 2010, 08:31am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Mike Meno, MPP assistant director of communications
202-905-2030 or mmeno@mpp.org
Maryland Lawmakers to Introduce Medical Marijuana Legislation
Tuesday press conference will unveil proposal to allow qualified patients to obtain and use medical marijuana with doctor’s recommendation
ANNAPOLIS, Md.
Tomorrow, Maryland lawmakers, patients and advocates will hold a press
conference to announce the introduction of medical marijuana
legislation in the Maryland state legislature.
"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,"
said Del. Dan Morhaim (D-Baltimore County), the bill's co-sponsor and a
physician board-certified in both Internal Medicine and Emergency
Medicine. "I can't emphasize enough how important it is for patients to
have access to the medicines that work best for them, especially for
those suffering from serious ailments like cancer and multiple
sclerosis. Marijuana may provide the greatest possible relief, one that
can help when other therapies are not effective."
Fourteen
other states, including New Jersey, and the District of Columbia have
passed laws that give seriously ill patients safe access to medical
marijuana and protection from criminal prosecution. Maryland's current
law provides medical marijuana patients with a limited affirmative
defense in court, but no protection from arrest. Patients can still be
given a $100 fine that results in a criminal conviction.
"As a cancer
survivor, I feel 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," said Sen.
David Brinkley (R-Frederick County), the bill's co-sponsor in the
Senate. "We don't want the government to interfere with the
doctor/patient relationship in that way. I just watched my mother pass
away from cancer as she chose to forego the only options that doctors
could prescribe her to relieve her pain, because the treatments were so
excruciating. If you disagree with me, I ask: would you call the police
on a family member who confided in you that they were using marijuana
under a doctor's order to ease their suffering from cancer or MS?"
WHAT: Press conference to announce the introduction of a medical marijuana bill in Maryland
WHO: Maryland state lawmakers, patients and advocates
WHEN: Tuesday, January 26, at 3 p.m.
WHERE: Room 318 in the House Office Building in Annapo
The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) is the number one organization in the U.S. legalizing cannabis. We passed 13 medical cannabis laws in the past 15 years, and we ran winning campaigns in eight of the 11 legalization states. No organization in the movement has changed as many cannabis laws, impacted as many patients and consumers, created as many new markets, or done more to end cannabis prohibition in the U.S. than MPP.
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"The headlines of state-aligned media screech and crow about the nefarious designs of your fellow citizens and the necessity of foreign wars without end, but find few words for a crime against the Constitution."
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Goitein used similar language to condemn the vote.
"This is a shameful moment in the history of the United States Congress," she said on social media. "It's a shameful moment for this administration, as well. But ultimately, it's the American people who pay the price for this sort of thing. And sooner or later, we will."
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden added, "America lost something important today, and hardly anyone heard. The headlines of state-aligned media screech and crow about the nefarious designs of your fellow citizens and the necessity of foreign wars without end, but find few words for a crime against the Constitution."
Schumer announced a deal late Friday to vote on a series of amendments to the bill clearing the way toward its passage, according toTheHill. However, all five amendments that would have added greater privacy protections were voted down, The Washington Post reported.
"If the government wants to spy on the private comms of any American, they should be required to get approval from a judge, as the Founding Fathers intended."
These included an amendment from Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) to require a warrant and another from Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) to remove the House language expanding the entities who could be forced to spy, according to Roll Call. The amendments were rejected 42-50 and 34-58 respectively.
"Congress' intention when we passed FISA Section 702 was clear as could be—Section 702 is supposed to be used only for spying on foreigners abroad. Instead, sadly, it has enabled warrantless access to vast databases of Americans' private phone calls, text messages, and e-mails," Durbin posted on social media.
"I'm disappointed my narrow amendment to protect Americans while preserving Section 702 as a foreign intel tool wasn't agreed to," Durbin continued. "If the government wants to spy on the private comms of any American, they should be required to get approval from a judge, as the Founding Fathers intended."
Wyden said in a statement: "The Senate waited until the 11th hour to ram through renewal of warrantless surveillance in the dead of night. But I'm not giving up. The American people know that reform is possible and that they don't need to sacrifice their liberty to have security. It is clear from the votes on very popular amendments that senators were unwilling to send this bill back to the House, no matter how common-sense the amendment before them."
Wyden was not the only one who pledged to keep fighting government surveillance overreach.
Vitka praised Durbin and Wyden, as well as other legislative privacy advocates including Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), saying the lawmakers had "built a formidable foundation from which we will all continue to fight for civil liberties."
Goitein also said the opposition of outspoken senators and concerned citizens were "silver linings."
"Because of the heat we were able to bring, we extracted some promises from the administration and the Senate intelligence committee chair. I do think they'll be forced to make SOME changes to mitigate the worst parts of the law, which they can do by including those changes in an upcoming must-pass vehicle, like the National Defense Authorization Act," she added.
The American Civil Liberties Union also responded to the vote on social media.
"Senators were aware of the threat this surveillance bill posed to our civil liberties and pushed it through anyway, promising they would attempt to address some of the most heinous expansions in the near future," the organization said. "We will do everything in our power to ensure these promises are kept."
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