Jacob Bell
New Member
A team of lawmakers, doctors, law enforcement officials and patient advocates will spend the next few months creating a plan and drafting state legislation for medical marijuana to be legalized for use by seriously ill patients.
The work group, which began meeting Wednesday and is chaired by Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, state secretary of health and mental hygiene, was created by legislation passed during the 2011 General Assembly session to develop a model program for medical marijuana use in the state.
Under legislation proposed earlier this year to legalize medicinal use of the drug, physicians could prescribe marijuana to long-term patients – such as those suffering from cancer – for whom conventional treatments haven't worked, and the state health department would have regulated and licensed producers and dispensaries. Sharfstein opposed those provisions in favor of further study, arguing in March that more specific rules were needed on which doctors could prescribe the drug and under what conditions.
Sharfstein said Wednesday that he was looking forward to working with the group and saw it as a chance to use the state's resources to develop a viable system.
The work group is charged with developing a proposal for providing patients access to the drug, including drafting legislation to be considered by the General Assembly in 2012 so the program could be implemented by January 2013, according to the legislation.
The initial bill's lead sponsors, Del. Dan Morhaim (D-Dist. 11) of Owings Mills and Sen. David Brinkley (R-Dist. 4) of New Market, a two-time cancer survivor, are members of the work group.
Morhaim, a physician, said the measure had a good level of support in both the House of Delegates and the state Senate.
Sharfstein must submit the group's report by Dec. 1.
Medical use of marijuana is legal in 16 states and Washington, D.C.
Karen O'Keefe, director of state policies of the Marijuana Policy Project and a member of the work group, said one of the key issues the work group will examine is protecting patients from prosecution by the federal government, which has ruled that the drug has no accepted medical use.
"What's most important is that the work group come up with something that actually works," O'Keefe said.
News Hawk- Jacob Ebel 420 MAGAZINE
Source: gazette.net
Author: Daniel Leaderman
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: Post-Newsweek Media, Inc.
Website: Work begins on model medical marijuana program
The work group, which began meeting Wednesday and is chaired by Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, state secretary of health and mental hygiene, was created by legislation passed during the 2011 General Assembly session to develop a model program for medical marijuana use in the state.
Under legislation proposed earlier this year to legalize medicinal use of the drug, physicians could prescribe marijuana to long-term patients – such as those suffering from cancer – for whom conventional treatments haven't worked, and the state health department would have regulated and licensed producers and dispensaries. Sharfstein opposed those provisions in favor of further study, arguing in March that more specific rules were needed on which doctors could prescribe the drug and under what conditions.
Sharfstein said Wednesday that he was looking forward to working with the group and saw it as a chance to use the state's resources to develop a viable system.
The work group is charged with developing a proposal for providing patients access to the drug, including drafting legislation to be considered by the General Assembly in 2012 so the program could be implemented by January 2013, according to the legislation.
The initial bill's lead sponsors, Del. Dan Morhaim (D-Dist. 11) of Owings Mills and Sen. David Brinkley (R-Dist. 4) of New Market, a two-time cancer survivor, are members of the work group.
Morhaim, a physician, said the measure had a good level of support in both the House of Delegates and the state Senate.
Sharfstein must submit the group's report by Dec. 1.
Medical use of marijuana is legal in 16 states and Washington, D.C.
Karen O'Keefe, director of state policies of the Marijuana Policy Project and a member of the work group, said one of the key issues the work group will examine is protecting patients from prosecution by the federal government, which has ruled that the drug has no accepted medical use.
"What's most important is that the work group come up with something that actually works," O'Keefe said.
News Hawk- Jacob Ebel 420 MAGAZINE
Source: gazette.net
Author: Daniel Leaderman
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: Post-Newsweek Media, Inc.
Website: Work begins on model medical marijuana program
