James, a 44-year- old Sussex County man, found himself in constant pain following a work-related injury in 2000. Two surgeries later, he still had nerve pain that doctors told him he would have to deal with for the rest of his life.
Prescribed painkillers took away the pain, but were expensive and left him feeling nauseous and cloudy-headed.
Then, during a trip to Europe in 2001, James experimented with marijuana in Amsterdam, where it is legal. He says his pain went away, and so did the side effects.
“The nausea was not there. The mental fog that narcotics had as a side effect was not there, surprisingly,” James says.
James returned to the Delaware, where the use of marijuana for any purpose is against the law. “It forces my hand, basically to go back what I consider more dangerous and less effective [prescription] drugs that are extraordinarily expensive,” he says.
James, who asked that DFM News publish only his first name, is one of many stakeholders watching closely as the Delaware General Assembly again prepares to take up legislation that would allow for the use of medical marijuana.
State Senator Margaret Rose Henry (D-Wilmington) is sponsoring a bill that would allow for regulated use of marijuana in medically recommended cases. She has been trying for two years to get such a law passed through the Legislature, but believed she didn’t have the necessary votes to get it passed in both houses before this session. The bill is on the agenda for the State Senate next Thursday, March 31.
“I see this as a benefit to the people that I represent and to the whole state, but in particular the people who are suffering,” Henry says, adding that her Wilmington district includes many residents with HIV/AIDS, illnesses related to illicit drug use, and chronic pain conditions.
State Senator Margaret Rose Henry (D-Wilmington) on Medical Marijuana bill
Henry outlines the safeguards included in her legislation to deal with issues raised about the use of medically-prescribed marijuana.
Henry is advocating the bill because she’s personally seen the need for it in her community.
Henry says national advocate Montell Williams has praised Delaware’s version of medical marijuana legislation.
Henry says her new bill has addressed many issues that had stalled past efforts, including provisions to mitigate the possibility of “doctor shopping” for a marijuana prescription. Under this year’s bill, a medical doctor would diagnose the patient’s condition, and certify that marijuana would help the patient. The patient would then submit the doctor’s certification to the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services. Next, DHSS would review and approve the certification, and then issue the patient an ID card.
On the distribution side, potential medical marijuana dispensaries would go through a bidding and vetting process before being approved by the state, and then submit to random inspections. DHSS would keep a registry of all dispensary personnel. Three centers would be certified in the first year, one in each county.
Patients with a valid ID would be allowed to possess up to six ounces of marijuana for medical use. In circumstances where the patient could not travel to a distributor, the patient could appoint a caregiver to purchase the marijuana, who would also be required to present an ID card. Medical marijuana would not be available for children under 21, and health insurers would be specifically prohibited from covering the cost of medical marijuana.
Not everyone is convinced that medical marijuana can be distributed safely.
“One of my concerns is it’s going to send the wrong message to the youth of our state,” says Lewes Police Chief Jeff Horvath, who is also Vice Chairman of the Delaware Police Chiefs’ Council. “Kids are going to go home and see their grandmother, their father, their cousin, somebody using it, and it’s going to decriminalize it to them.”
Horvath also is concerned about the potential that dispensaries where marijuana would be grown and distributed could draw the attention of criminals. “How’s it going to be controlled?” Horvath asks.
Wilmington Police Chief Michael Szczerba agrees police forces large and small will be stretched by the additional need to monitor the dispensaries, wherever they are located. “Drug addiction, and drug crime that goes along with that, does not recognize jurisdictional boundaries. It’s a challenge for law enforcement all over the State of Delaware, not only in the City of Wilmington,” Szczerba says.
Henry’s legislation is based on some recommendations of the Washington, D.C. based Marijuana Policy Project, a group working to legalize marijuana with regulations similar to alcohol. The MPP has worked in other states to develop medical marijuana programs.
Morgan Fox, spokesperson for the Marijuana Policy Project, says, “Ideally, we like to see states institute a system of tight controls, but also allow for the establishment of dispensaries.”
What They’re Saying About Delaware’s Medical Marijuana Bill
Lewes Police Chief and Vice Chair of the Delaware Police Chiefs Association Jeff Horvath discusses his concerns about allowing medical marijuana through “compassion centers’”
Morgan Fox, Communications Director with the Marijuana Policy Project, talks about the goals the organization has in Delaware
James, 44, of Sussex County, talks about his experience using marijuana overseas while dealing with severe pain.
44-year-old James, of Sussex County, who tried marijuana overseas while dealing with chronic pain, believes medical marijuana can be safely implemented in Delaware.
Fifteen states and the District of Columbia have enacted medical marijuana laws, but the programs are not without controversy. In Montana, a newly elected Republican majority in the legislature is working to overturn a medical marijuana measure approved by voters six years ago. Opponents say the medical marijuana growers are producing larger quantities than are being used by patients. In New Mexico, the new Republican governor is seeking to repeal that state’s medical marijuana law, and the sponsor of a repeal measure has called for a study into the effectiveness of the state’s program.
The Maryland legislature is currently debating a proposal to allow medical use of marijuana. A law is on the books in New Jersey, but debate continues over dispensary regulations.
The MPP refers to hundreds of studies, many peer-reviewed, which show marijuana’s effectiveness in alleviating sometimes-debilitating pain and symptoms. Still, much of the supporting evidence surrounding the use of medical marijuana is anecdotal: patients report decreasing feelings of nausea, and a return of their appetite. Others cite the plant’s ability to reduce their pain.
The Medical Society of Delaware has a committee evaluating the use of marijuana for medical purposes, but has not come out with an official position. The office of Attorney General Beau Biden has remained neutral on the issue so far.
Marijuana Policy Project Legislative Analyst Noah Mamber says Delaware’s bill reflects the experiences and mistakes made in other states. For example, Delaware is the first state that would prohibit patients from growing their own marijuana for medical use. Also, Delaware’s bill requires the marijuana be tested for purity.
Although the MPP advocates offering patients the authority to grow their own marijuana for personal medical use, under the proposed Delaware law, however, patients would not be allowed to grow their own marijuana.
“It reflects all of the lessons we have learned from the other states, the loopholes in some of the state laws that make them imperfect. This bill addresses them,” Mamber says.
For Joe Scarborough of Wilmington, the legislation is a long time coming. He was diagnosed with HIV in 1992, four years before there were even medications to control it. He used marijuana medically to control nausea and other side effects of the medications. Then in 1996 he was diagnosed with a highly aggressive form of cancer and again used marijuana to control the symptoms.
“It shouldn’t always be a last resort. It should be about what works best for people,” Scarborough says. “If this works better than pharmaceuticals, so be it.”
Henry acknowledges the process has been purposefully slow and deliberate. “Something of this magnitude you can’t just run through. That’s why it’s taking so long,” Henry says. “We want to be responsible in how we do this.”
