The Obama administration announced October 19 that there no longer will be federal prosecution of medical marijuana patients and more focus will be put on higher-level drug traffickers. Currently, 14 states have medical marijuana legislation, including Maryland. On both sides of the issue, people are wondering if this is the first step in the legalization of marijuana for medical and even recreational use.
The Obama administration’s new policy is significantly different than President Bush’s approach, which was completely against any use of the Schedule 1 substance. (A Schedule 1 drug is classified by the DEA to be unsafe, have high potential for abuse, and currently have no medical use.) According to the United States Department of Justice, marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug among all age groups, but yet it is proven to have medical benefits, particularly in cases of glaucoma, AIDS, wasting syndrome, some cancers and Multiple Sclerosis.
California has the most lenient medical marijuana laws out of every state. In Los Angeles, "more than 1,000 medical marijuana dispensaries opened, some employing in-house physicians to dispense legal permission to virtually all comers," according to a Washington Post article.
Compared to California’s laws, Maryland is less tolerant of the use of medical marijuana. In 2003, Maryland’s former Republican Governor Bob Erlich passed a bill, also known as the Compassionate Use Act, allowing for medical marijuana patients to possess the drug, but they may not have more than one ounce and need proof of a doctor’s recommendation. The maximum penalty for the patient will be $100 if he or she can prove they need the substance for medical reasons. If the person does not have legitimate verification, they will face will face maximum fines and/or imprisonment. In an attempt to eliminate the Compassionate Use Act because it confusingly both allows and potentially penalizes medical use of marijuana, 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," called House Bill 1339, was suggested, but was not passed due to budget restraints.
The expansion of legalizing medical marijuana in more states opens the door to less legal enforcement of recreational use among the United States population. Advocate groups of medical marijuana such as the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws and Americans for Safe Access believe the new policy is the first step in the overall decriminalization of marijuana use in the future. The President of the United States also might agree. In a 2004 appearance at Northwestern University, Obama said, "I think the war on drugs has been a failure, and I think we need to rethink and decriminalize our marijuana laws."
Legalizing the drug would drastically change the economy. In the New York Times article "Marijuana Supporters Welcome a Tax Increase," the writer explains, "The dispensaries already pay some $18 million a year in state sales tax, according to the Board of Equalization." Medical marijuana legalization would help reduce the debt in most states, if they decided to legalize it.
Obama’s plan to end persecution towards medical marijuana users is beneficial for patients and lucritive for distributors. It remains unclear if there are plans for the total decriminalization of marijuana use, but progress has been slow in legislation to accomplish this goal.