Medical Marijuana Bill Eases Through Maryland Senate

A medical-marijuana bill has been approved 35-12 in the Maryland Senate, but the state House won’t vote on the measure this year, the Baltimore Sun reported April 11.

The Senate vote came too late for the House to consider the bill, since the state’s legislative session ended this week. Still, supporters hailed the Senate’s endorsement as a victory, saying the margin of approval bodes well for the future of the measure.

The bill follows a 2003 state law that calls for leniency for medical users of marijuana, but did not outright legalize medical use. The proposal requires patients to have an established relationship with the physician who endorses their medical use of the drug and mandates that the state license any medical-marijuana providers.