Global Ganja Report

The Maryland Senate voted 42-4 on April 8 to pass a new medical marijuana bill— but patient advocates say that HB1101 is more symbolic than practical. HB1101, already passed by the House of Delegates, would extend the current affirmative defense for patients who are arrested and prosecuted under state law, but would provide no way for patients to obtain their medication. Agreeing with the sentiment of advocates, the nonpartisan Maryland Department of Legislative Services issued a fiscal note last month that questioned the bill's effectiveness, casting doubt on whether it will ever meet legislators' expectations.

The Maryland House of Delegates on March 25 approved a bill to legalize medical marijuana by a vote of 108-28. The bill would also create a state commission to manage medical marijuana programs at participating academic medical research centers. While the number of distribution centers to be created is uncertain, neither the University of Maryland nor Johns Hopkins University have demonstrated interest in being involved in the distribution system.

The country’s leading medical marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) was awarded a permit by the District of Columbia Department of Health last week to implement its compulsory training for cultivators and distributors licensed by the District. ASA Foundation was selected to be the Medical Marijuana Certification Provider based on its longstanding experience providing such trainings across the country. The four-hour long training course, a requirement under the District's Legalization of Marijuana for Medical Treatment Amendment Act of 2010, will cover the basics of medical marijuana, including an overview of its clinical applications, safety and operational protocols, as well as participants’ rights and responsibilities under local and federal laws.

The New Jersey Department of Health announced this week that physicians can now register qualified patients for the state's medical marijuana program—a move that won support for Republican Gov. Chris Christie from the first dispensary to open in the Garden State. "At one point we felt that the progression of the program installation was slow," according to Julio Valentin of Greenleaf Compassion in Montclair. "But we understand that Gov. Christie and the state of New Jersey is doing the best they can to cross their T's and dot their I's to make this program as successful as possible." Valentin, who intends to hang a framed photo of Christie on the walls of the dispensary, hails the governor for giving them "the green light." (ABC News, Aug. 10)

New Jersey lawmakers are set to consider a bill that would decriminalize possession of up to a half ounce of cannabis. The proposal calls for fines of $100 to $500 for possession of up to half an ounce, but no jail time. Possession of drug paraphernalia would result in a $100 fine, and violators who are underage or have multiple convictions would be referred for drug counseling. The proposal is co-sponsored by 15 Democrats and three Republicans. Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, has proposed mandatory treatment for nonviolent drug offenders rather than jail, and has appropriated $2.5 million for the program. But Democrats want a limited pilot program to see if mandatory treatment really works. (AP, May 17)

On April 2, a bipartisan group of legislators from five medical marijuana states—California, Colorado, Maine, New Mexico, and Washington—issued an open letter to President Barack Obama opposing the federal crackdown and calling upon his administration to "respect our state laws." The lawmakers underscored that such an aggressive policy "makes no sense" and is "not a good use of our resources," recalling Obama's original pledge to de-emphasize enforcement in states with medical marijuana laws.

On March 30, the District of Columbia granted licenses to six cannabis cultivators, finally moving toward implementing the medical marijuana program that was approved by the District's voters in 1998 vote but blocked by Congress—which controls the district's budget—for over a decade. But advocates now warn that burdensome regulation by the District's own government threatens the program. In the last three months, the DC Council has passed several restrictions on the locations of the 10 cultivation centers it originally authorized in a 2010 law.

Multiple sclerosis patient John Ray Wilson must complete his five-year prison term for growing cannabis after New Jersey's Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal on Jan. 20, in what attorney William Buckman called a "wrongheaded and a vicious travesty."