Dispensaries

Don't look now, but if the current medical marijuana legislation is passed, a local pot dispensary could end up in your neighborhood ("Md. fights through haze over medical marijuana," Jan. 31). Those supporting the legislation promise to set up tight restrictions on the placement of these dispensaries, but as we have seen with the increased numbers of liquor licenses and methadone clinics, the government has a pretty poor track record in protecting our communities, especially our children.

A clean-cut young man with Tourette's syndrome sat at the witness table in Annapolis Friday afternoon, his head occasionally jerking back and forth, and pleaded with Maryland lawmakers to make it legal to use marijuana for medical purposes. The substance, he said, causes a "dramatic change" in his symptoms, softening the pain, and does not interfere with other medicines he must take. "I'm asking you to do the right thing," Adam Epstein, 15, told members of the House Health and Government Operations and Judiciary committees in a joint hearing.

Even as a proposal to legalize medical marijuana emerges in Maryland, a backlash over the burgeoning industry has developed in other states - and is likely to influence legislation here. Last week, the Los Angeles City Council tried to rein in the growth of marijuana dispensaries, limiting the number to 70 and imposing tight restrictions on where and how they can operate. And in Colorado, towns are trying to shutter some of the hundreds of dispensaries that have popped up. But supporters of the Maryland proposal say they have learned from problems in states that approved use of the drug without uniform regulations on the dispensaries providing it. The result, they say: Maryland's measure could be among the most stringent in the nation.

Despite the fact that marijuana remains a controlled substance that is illegal in the United States under federal law, 16 states and the District of Columbia have legalized "medical marijuana. " Del. Cheryl Glenn's HB15, the "Maryland Medical Marijuana Act," was introduced and first read on Jan. 11, the first day of this year's General Assembly session. Two more bills calling for legalization of medical marijuana have been introduced since. We would like to make the case that medical marijuana, as currently "prescribed," makes a farce of medicine.

Despite the fact that marijuana remains a controlled substance that is illegal in the United States under federal law, 16 states and the District of Columbia have legalized "medical marijuana. " Del. Cheryl Glenn's HB15, the "Maryland Medical Marijuana Act," was introduced and first read on Jan. 11, the first day of this year's General Assembly session. Two more bills calling for legalization of medical marijuana have been introduced since. We would like to make the case that medical marijuana, as currently "prescribed," makes a farce of medicine.

I fail to understand why Mike Gimbel is so concerned about the potential negative effect of marijuana dispensaries to "our communities, especially our children" ("Md. couldn't control marijuana dispensaries," Readers respond, Feb. 5). All evidence from California's experience is to the contrary. WIth a physician prescription, adults have no problem obtaining marijuana from legal dispensaries there. An unintended consequence of the dispensaries is that marijuana drug dealers have been largely put out of business, thereby eliminating sources for teenagers to get marijuana.

It is downright disturbing to see that Mike Gimbel, someone who has worked in substance abuse programs, could express such a shockingly callous and ignorant view of medical marijuana dispensaries and drug treatment centers by implying that they would have a negative effect on "our communities, especially our children." ("Md. wouldn't be able to control marijuana dispensaries," Readers respond, Feb. 4). As Mr. Gimbel himself should know, such establishments exist in order to provide reprieve and care for afflicted members of our community.

Hoping to make Maryland the 15th state in the nation to legalize medical marijuana, legislators introduced a pair of bills Tuesday in the General Assembly that would let doctors approve access to marijuana for their patients and sanction dispensaries, and even pharmacies, to distribute the drug. The legislation would allow the use of marijuana by patients who have a "debilitating medical condition," such as seizures, severe chronic pain or severe nausea as a result of cancer treatment.

A clean-cut young man with Tourette's syndrome sat at the witness table in Annapolis Friday afternoon, his head occasionally jerking back and forth, and pleaded with Maryland lawmakers to make it legal to use marijuana for medical purposes. The substance, he said, causes a "dramatic change" in his symptoms, softening the pain, and does not interfere with other medicines he must take. "I'm asking you to do the right thing," Adam Epstein, 15, told members of the House Health and Government Operations and Judiciary committees in a joint hearing.

This letter is in response to The Sun's editorial on medical marijuana ("Go slow," Jan. 3). Recently, a medical marijuana panel commissioned by the Maryland legislature recommended two divergent proposals. One recommends dispensaries allow doctors to recommend marijuana to patients, and the other allows research institutions to test the efficacy of marijuana on human test subjects. The Sun supports the latter view. I find the support of this viewpoint to be quite frankly absurd. Marijuana has been one of the most researched drugs in the 20th century.

This letter is in response to The Sun's editorial on medical marijuana ("Go slow," Jan. 3). Recently, a medical marijuana panel commissioned by the Maryland legislature recommended two divergent proposals. One recommends dispensaries allow doctors to recommend marijuana to patients, and the other allows research institutions to test the efficacy of marijuana on human test subjects. The Sun supports the latter view. I find the support of this viewpoint to be quite frankly absurd. Marijuana has been one of the most researched drugs in the 20th century.

A panel that met Wednesday to explore whether Maryland should modify its marijuana laws may have come up with the most practical proposal yet to allow the medical use of marijuana by people suffering from chronic pain or illness, while discouraging the abuses that have plagued other states' efforts to legalize the drug. The plan, which involves giving schools and hospitals the lead role in administering the drug, appears to offer the best chance yet of passing both legal and medical muster.

I fail to understand why Mike Gimbel is so concerned about the potential negative effect of marijuana dispensaries to "our communities, especially our children" ("Md. couldn't control marijuana dispensaries," Readers respond, Feb. 5). All evidence from California's experience is to the contrary. WIth a physician prescription, adults have no problem obtaining marijuana from legal dispensaries there. An unintended consequence of the dispensaries is that marijuana drug dealers have been largely put out of business, thereby eliminating sources for teenagers to get marijuana.

Md. couldn't control marijuana dispensaries Don't look now, but if the current medical marijuana legislation is passed, a local pot dispensary could end up in your neighborhood ("Md. fights through haze over medical marijuana," Jan. 31). Those supporting the legislation promise to set up tight restrictions on the placement of these dispensaries, but as we have seen with the increased numbers of liquor licenses and methadone clinics, the government has a pretty poor track record in protecting our communities, especially our children.

Mike Gimbel's letter ignores some rudimentary facts regarding medical marijuana ("Md. wouldn't be able to control marijuana dispensaries," Readers respond, Feb. 4). Many polls have recently showed that as many as eight out of every 10 Americans say they want medical marijuana to be legalized and regulated. Unlike Mr. Gimbel, they understand that giving needed treatment to sick people needs to take precedence over the politics and misguided taboos of the past. Fourteen states already have medical marijuana, and the reason that many more have legislation pending is because for some severely ill patients, the treatment works.

Don't look now, but if the current medical marijuana legislation is passed, a local pot dispensary could end up in your neighborhood ("Md. fights through haze over medical marijuana," Jan. 31). Those supporting the legislation promise to set up tight restrictions on the placement of these dispensaries, but as we have seen with the increased numbers of liquor licenses and methadone clinics, the government has a pretty poor track record in protecting our communities, especially our children.

Md. couldn't control marijuana dispensaries Don't look now, but if the current medical marijuana legislation is passed, a local pot dispensary could end up in your neighborhood ("Md. fights through haze over medical marijuana," Jan. 31). Those supporting the legislation promise to set up tight restrictions on the placement of these dispensaries, but as we have seen with the increased numbers of liquor licenses and methadone clinics, the government has a pretty poor track record in protecting our communities, especially our children.

Even as a proposal to legalize medical marijuana emerges in Maryland, a backlash over the burgeoning industry has developed in other states - and is likely to influence legislation here. Last week, the Los Angeles City Council tried to rein in the growth of marijuana dispensaries, limiting the number to 70 and imposing tight restrictions on where and how they can operate. And in Colorado, towns are trying to shutter some of the hundreds of dispensaries that have popped up. But supporters of the Maryland proposal say they have learned from problems in states that approved use of the drug without uniform regulations on the dispensaries providing it. The result, they say: Maryland's measure could be among the most stringent in the nation.

It is downright disturbing to see that Mike Gimbel, someone who has worked in substance abuse programs, could express such a shockingly callous and ignorant view of medical marijuana dispensaries and drug treatment centers by implying that they would have a negative effect on "our communities, especially our children." ("Md. wouldn't be able to control marijuana dispensaries," Readers respond, Feb. 4). As Mr. Gimbel himself should know, such establishments exist in order to provide reprieve and care for afflicted members of our community.

Everyone has heard the horror stories from California, which after passing a 1996 law legalizing the medical use of marijuana for patients with cancer and other serious illnesses found itself awash in pot shops and physicians who seemed all too eager to hand out cannabis prescriptions to anyone who asked, regardless of the complaint. California is belatedly moving to correct the worst abuses of that law, but the sheer number of loosely regulated pot dispensaries and pharmacies that sprang up after its passage is making reform an uphill struggle.