Md. Lawmakers Pro-Medical Marijuana Want To Include Treatment For Children
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) -- Some lawmakers are hoping to jump-start Maryland's stalled medical marijuana program and include treatment for children.
Pat Warren has more on the roadblocks to treatment.
While other states have moved forward on allowing access to marijuana, Maryland's law remains so restrictive, the medical marijuana program hasn't been able to get off the ground.
Stephanie Pippen brought her daughter to the state capitol Friday, and as you can imagine, it was not an easy trip.
"My daughter, from a car accident, now has trouble eating. So she is fed through a feeding tube," Pippen said.
She and her brother also have epilepsy.
"When I put my son and daughter to bed at night, I rub their noses every night and I tell them how proud I am of them," Pippen said. "I love them very much and I just pray that they wake up every day."
Stephanie is among the parents joining lawmakers to ask the state to move forward on medical marijuana and include children in the treatment.
"We took a half-step last year. We hoped it would work, it's not working. It's not going to work," said Del. Dan Morhaim, (D) Baltimore County.
The added urgency comes as Colorado and Washington legalize marijuana. Washington D.C. opened centers for medical marijuana, and Maryland lawmakers are considering bills to decriminalize it here.
Meanwhile, children are suffering for lack of marijuana-based medicines that can control their seizures.
"We don't live in Colorado, where the medicine is available. And our frustration is heightened because every single day that passes without this medicine is a day stolen from my son," parent Gail Rand said.
Those parents testified before a House committee Friday. There's no word yet when the committee will vote on the bills.
Under current law, only academic medical facilities can dispense marijuana in Maryland. None, as of yet, have signed on.
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