At Catonsville Conference, Morhaim Urges Maryland Health Industry To Embrace MMJ

Katelyn Baker

Well-Known Member
Aleading architect of the state's medical marijuana program urged members of the embryonic industry Wednesday to bring pressure on health care providers and hospital administrators to remove obstacles to making the drug available to patients.

Del. Dan K. Morhaim, the longest-serving physician in the General Assembly, told roughly 200 people at the first statewide conference of the Maryland Cannabis Industry Association that they need to be aggressive advocates as their business approaches its first legal sales - probably sometime next year.

A Baltimore County Democrat, Morhaim said industry members need to mobilize.

"You've got to step up with the campaigns," he said. "You've got to step up with the political process."

Speaking at the conference at the University of Maryland Baltimore County's Tech Center in Catonsville, Morhaim also said it's also important for patients to put pressure on providers to sign up as providers willing to recommend cannabis - the industry's preferred term and the one used in Maryland law - when it's medically appropriate.

Morhaim said so far only 140 to 150 Maryland physicians have signed up so far for the program. He said more are expected to join in next year but stressed that it's up to patients to push their providers into offering the service.

Physicians and certain other medical professionals are authorized to recommend cannabis to treat certain conditions - such as seizure disorders or the side-effects of cancer chemotherapy.

The drug would be sold by licensed dispensers, and the product would be grown and processed under other state licenses.

Morhaim said some specialties have been more receptive to the use of medical cannabis than others. He mentioned oncologists and neurologists as physicians who have been open to its use, while pointing to psychiatrists and being reluctant.

In some cases, Morhaim said, hospitals are a big obstacle. He said some hospitals have sent signals that physicians who sign up for the program risk losing their admitting privileges.

"When doctors get that message, subtly or overtly, that's a problem," he said.

Morhaim urged members of the group to contact hospital administrators and board members to protest policies that discourage doctors. He predicted that eventually hospitals would come under competitive pressure from patients to set up their own cannabis programs.

The gathering itself was tangible evidence of the growing normalization of cannabis in Maryland. It brought together prospective growers, processors and retailers, as well as those interested in providing support services such as security, lobbying and legal counsel.

Darrell Carrington, executive director of the state cannabis association, said the industry has been encouraged this week by news that the commission that regulated medical cannabis hope to start issuing first-stage licenses to prospective growers and processors by Aug. 15.

Carrington said he's not confident the commission will meet the Aug. 15 timetable but is hopeful that licensees could be selected by Labor Day and that the first patients could begin receiving medical cannabis next spring and summer.

The event at UMBC had all the trappings of a respectable trade association conference - coffee, doughnuts and three state lawmakers signed up as speakers. In addition to Morhaim, attendees heard from Del. Cheryl Glenn, a Baltimore Democrat who sponsored successful medical cannabis legislation, and Sen. Robert A. Zirkin, a Baltimore County Democrat who leads the Judicial Proceedings Committee.

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News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: At Catonsville Conference, Morhaim Urges Maryland Health Industry To Embrace Medical Marijuana
Author: Michael Dresser
Contact: 888-539-1280
Photo Credit: Michael Dresser
Website: The Baltimore Sun
 
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