Originally published April 29 2011
Former talk show host Montel Williams endorses medical marijuana
by Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
(NaturalNews) Maryland lawmakers plan to introduce a revised version of a medical marijuana bill that they put forth last year, this time with more restrictions. And according to The Baltimore Sun, talk show host Montel Williams, along with various politicians from both sides of the aisle, has come out in support of the new bill.
Williams, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, told reporters that he personally uses marijuana and nine other medications to treat his pain. For years he used opiate drugs, but he says that they no longer work on him. Marijuana, however, has worked out quite well for him, and he believes others with conditions like his deserve access to it as a treatment option.
"Marijuana may not work for everyone, but what it has done for me is it's given me my life back," Williams tearfully explained at a news conference. "I'm right now the poster child and in a lot of places a lot of people are looking for somebody to make an example of to prove a point. All I'm trying to do is live."
Last year, the Maryland Senate overwhelmingly passed a medical marijuana bill that would have permitted physicians to prescribe it for certain conditions had the House of Delegates not stalled the bill over concerns about some of its provisions. The provisions included reclassifying marijuana as a highly-regulated pain medication rather than an illegal drug, and permitting pharmacies to dispense marijuana to patients with prescriptions.
This year, Delegate Dan Morhaim (D-Baltimore County) plans to submit an amended version of the bill for consideration. The new bill tightens restrictions on how freely a physician can prescribe marijuana to patients. It is expected to be well-received with strong bipartisan support.
Back in November, Arizona became the 15th state to approve marijuana for medical purposes (http://www.naturalnews.com/030428_medical_ma...). If the bill is a success, Maryland will become the 16th state to approve medical marijuana.
Sources for this story include:
http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?New...
http://online.wsj.com/article/AP00462d70052d...
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