On Tuesday, March 24, members of the Maryland House Judiciary will hear testimony in support of House Bill 1339, an act to create a legislative task force to “study and recommend whether purchasing marijuana with a recommendation from a health care provider should be (state) law.”
The hearing will take place at 1pm.
In 2003, Maryland’s legislature passed legislation that requires courts to consider a defendant’s use of medical marijuana to be a mitigating factor in marijuana-related state prosecution.
The proposed task force will evaluate whether these provisions are effective, fair, and equitably applied across all jurisdictions in the state. Members of the task force will also study the ways that individuals who need therapeutic cannabis can legally procure it.
Please take a moment today to contact your elected officials and urge them to support House Bill 1339. If your representative sits on the House Judiciary Committee then it is especially important that he or she hears from you.
For more information on House Bill 1339, please visit MD Americans for Safe Access.
Thank you for supporting NORML’s marijuana law reform efforts in Maryland.
SUBJECT: Study Issues Relating to the Medical Use of Marijuana: Vote ‘Yes’ on HB 1339
In writing you in support of House Bill 1339, an act to establish a legislative task force to study issues pertaining to the medical use of marijuana under a doctor’s supervision.
In 2003, Maryland’s legislature passed legislation that requires courts to consider a defendant’s use of medical marijuana to be a mitigating factor in marijuana-related state prosecution. House Bill 1339 seeks to establish a task force to evaluate whether these provisions are effective, fair, and equitably applied across all jurisdictions in the state.
House Bill 1339 does not change existing Maryland law; does not legalize the use of marijuana; and does not promote the use of marijuana.
Some 80 state and national health care organizations, including the American Nurses Association, American Public Health Association and The New England Journal of Medicine, support immediate, legal patient access to medical cannabis. This is an issue deserving objective study. That is why I urge you to support HB 1339.
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The status Quo will attempt to block the legal use of MJ as long as they possibly can, even though the majority of law enforcement officials around the US would like to see it legalized to reduce the administrative and financial burden of their already overextended departments. As the economy grows weaker departments have to scale back and less officers are available with fewer hours to provide adequate protection to the public. Since in most states MJ possesion is only a misdomeanor they feel that to relieve them of this burden MJ should be legalized. In the state of MD, however, they dilgently look for ways to increase their state revenue through extensive prosecution. Those caught with MJ often have their vehicles towed, pay heavy fines and are put on probation. The majority of these defendants are young and recieve a criminal record for their acts. Do not worry young people, even though these old legislative farts are in power now they will soon die off and the day will be ours. Ironically enough they are the ones that started this MJ craze in the 60s and 70s but are now demonizing it to their children and pretending to be concerned for thier health. Our last 3 presidents are admittedly MJ users, yet America still fights to maintain the illegality of MJ. Please legislatures, stop lying, this is more about revenue than it is about crime. Lets start a referendum right now in all states to vote on the legalization of MJ. If we do it like the OBAMA campaign we will surely win.