MD Safe Access In The News
Feb 28, 2010 - Same-sex marriage, medical marijuana becoming more acceptable
Text copied from: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bal-md.marbella28feb28,0,7757584.story
Even among my own
acquaintances, I still do a mental double-take - not "Oh, my God!" so
much as "Hmm, interesting" - when a woman refers to her wife.
Some
assumptions, I guess, only time fixes.
But that doesn't mean we
shouldn't push the clock to move faster, or bend that arc of history
whenever we can, however incrementally.
Last week in Annapolis
was something of a study in how elected officials can get ahead of the
culture or play catch-up with it, or perhaps just run alongside until
the time presents an opening.
Early in the week, Attorney
General Doug Gansler issued an opinion that same-sex marriages performed
elsewhere would be recognized in Maryland. Then, on Friday, the House
held a hearing on a medical marijuana
bill that would expand on a much more limited measure enacted seven
years ago.
Midway through a legislative session marked mostly by
caution - given that it's an election year and a time of severe
budgetary constraints - the week was bookended by two hot-button issues.
Gansler's
opinion, for all the celebration and outcry that it generated, doesn't
dramatically change the landscape overnight. Same-sex couples still
can't marry in the state, but if they do so somewhere else, the state
will recognize their certificate the same way it would a heterosexual
couple's. The opinion is not law, but it serves as a guide to state
agencies and is expected to confer certain property, inheritance and
other spousal rights to married same-sex couples.
I'd like to see
Maryland join the five other states and the District of Columbia in
allowing same-sex marriage rather than simply accept their certificates.
But for now, at least, Maryland doesn't seem quite ready to make that
leap, after the Court of Appeals upheld the state's ban on gay marriage
several years ago.
Times change, though, and I can't help but
think someday we're going to wonder what the fuss was all about. I met
some of the couples who were part of the lawsuit that made it to the
appellate court, and surely this isn't news, but they were your
next-door neighbors - among them a cop, a lawyer, a bus driver, a nurse,
a military service member, churchgoers, parents.
Except that
there was no guarantee that, should they give birth, grow ill or die,
their partners would have the kind of legal standing that married
couples do.
While polls still show that less than half of
Americans support same-sex marriage, that is much more than 10 years or
20 years ago. And, those polls show, the support is strongest among
young people - signaling, perhaps, that in the future, same-sex marriage
will just be considered ... marriage.
Similarly, an ABC News/Washington Post poll found
last month that 81 percent of those surveyed approve of legalizing
marijuana for medical use. Even 13 years earlier, the pollsters said,
support was running at 69 percent.
Again debunking its
ultra-liberal blueness, Maryland isn't one of the 14 states to allow
medical marijuana, although supporters are hopeful about bills
introduced in both houses of the legislature this year. In 2003, the
state dipped a toe in these waters, enacting a law that limited the
penalties for getting caught with marijuana if you could prove you have a
medical need for it.
"You've got to crawl before you can walk
before you can jog before you can sprint," one of the measure's
sponsors, Sen. David Brinkley, told The
Sun at the time.
This year, the Frederick
County Republican has introduced a bill to allow marijuana to be
grown and dispensed for medicinal purposes. With one of the Senate's
most progressive members, Jamie Raskin, a Montgomery County Democrat, as
his co-sponsor, Brinkley said the bill's support spans "both ends of
the political spectrum."
"We're trying to prove it's a
nonpartisan issue," Brinkley said. "It's not a liberal-conservative
issue."
With the Obama administration backing off from
prosecuting medical marijuana cases - federal law still considers any
use illegal - Brinkley thinks the time is right for Maryland to build on
its 2003 law.
"It's the evolution," he said of the
years-in-the-making change. "It can't happen as revolution all the
time."
Jan 29, 2010 - Stirring The Pot
Text Copied from: http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/publishers_note/stirring_the_pot/
By Andrew A. Buerger
Publisher
I have someone in my family who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Until you know a person with that debilitating disease, you can never understand the fatigue, the heaviness of the limbs, or the other smaller chronic nagging factors that affect daily life. The worst, though, is to watch someone in constant pain.
My relative has tried everything: pain meds, acupuncture, holistic vitamins and changes in diet. Nothing, nothing stops the pain.
Dr. Dan Morhaim thinks he might have a prescription for sufferers of diseases such as MS. He’s not a neurologist, but an emergency room physician and a state delegate representing a prominently Jewish area here. Del. Morhaim (D-11) is sponsoring a bill that would allow marijuana use for certain ailments, such as MS or people undergoing cancer treatment.
“It’s just another tool in our tool box that can be used,” Dr. Morhaim told me prior to his Tuesday press conference on the issue. He makes it clear that he is not advocating for the legalization of marijuana.
“This bill won’t make it any more legal than Oxycotin,” he said. “There are benefits and risks to using marijuana, like all drugs including narcotics. We have to be judicious. For some, it’s the only thing that helps.”
In fact, the National MS Society has studies showing marijuana to be effective in certain muscle-related pain. Dr. Morhaim was motivated by 14 other states now allowing it for medical purposes, including New Jersey, where a bill recently passed with bipartisan support.
Another sufferer is Deborah Miran, a retired pharmaceutical formulation research chemist who now has CML (chronic mylogenous leukemia. After four years of unsuccessful drug treatments, which involved brutally high doses of chemotherapy, side effects included complete loss of taste and severe nausea. She also lost her appetite, dropping one to two pounds per week until she weighed less than 100 pounds.
In a statement she said, “After consulting with my oncologist and a discussion with my husband, we decided the only solution was to try and obtain some marijuana and ‘dose’ myself a few minutes before the evening meal. My goal was not to get high, but rather try and stimulate my appetite.”
It worked. Mrs. Miran was able to discontinue some 17 medications, and “slowly my sense of taste and appetite returned. At that point, there was no longer a need for the medical marijuana, as my normal ability to stimulate an appetite was returning.”
Not everyone will support this bill. Mike Gimbel, a former Director of Drug Abuse for Baltimore Country and recovering addict, told me it’s a very bad idea. “Can you imagine an Oxycotin or heroin dispensary in your neighborhood?” he said.
Mr. Gimbel, who often lectures at Jewish day schools, raises good points including, “If marijuana is so helpful, why doesn’t it go through the regular FDA process?”
Del. Morhaim doesn’t disagree with that, and thinks that other legal drugs should have more scrutiny. He tries to allay concern by saying New Jersey has the strictest new law and “ours will be even more strict.”
Rabbi Steve Schwartz weighed in, agreeing with Del. Morhaim that those who would receive “prescriptions” for medicinal marijuana are so sick that it’s important to provide humanitarian relief.
He told me “p’kuach nefesh — the overriding value to preserve human life — is appropriate here. If the current medical professionals think it would help, then why not do it?”
Given our battles against illegal substances, this is a very touchy subject. But as Del. Morhaim told me, “In the war on drugs, get the sick and dying off the battlefield.”
Still, a lot of people are understandably concerned about kids gaining easy access — even though marijuana is easy to find. Many of these kids also easily obtain dangerous drugs from the medicine cabinets of friends and parents.
As Del. Morhaim said, “Steroids for high school kids can be very dangerous, but for those suffering from low testosterone, it’s extremely helpful.”
If Maryland legalizes marijuana, I don’t know if my relative will try it. But a prominent MS doctor recently told my family member, “It may be worth the drive to New Jersey to find out.”
Or maybe for some the drive could end right here in Maryland.
Jan 27, 2010 - 2 bills would legalize medical marijuana
Text Copied from: http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/bal-md.hs.marijuana27jan27,0,806070.story
The legislation would allow the use of marijuana by patients who have a
"debilitating medical condition," such as seizures, severe chronic pain or
severe nausea as a result of cancer treatment. They would have to
register with the state and obtain marijuana from state-licensed
dispensaries and pharmacies that might be interested in supplying it.
"The overarching goal is to make medical marijuana available, as would
be any other serious drug to help patients, with the same protections
and judicious use," said Del. Dan Morhaim, a Democrat from Baltimore
County and an internist and emergency medical physician, who sponsored
the legislation in the House of Delegates. Sen. David Brinkley, a
Republican from Frederick, is the bill's sponsor in the Senate.
Patients would need approval from doctors with whom they have a
long-standing relationship and would not be permitted to grow marijuana
on their own.
Morhaim said those two elements make Maryland's measure more stringent
than laws passed recently in other states, which allow people to grow
their own pot and have come under pressure from critics who say doctors
permit use of the drug too easily.
Maryland is the latest state to try to increase access to marijuana
following the Obama administration's loosening of federal policy on
marijuana enforcement last year.
The measure builds on a little-known 2003 Maryland law that allows
defendants charged with marijuana possession leniency if they can prove
medical necessity.
That law, however, does medical patients a disservice, said Sen. Jamie
B. Raskin, a Montgomery County Democrat, during a news conference
Tuesday attended by supporters of the legislation, including two people
who said they used the drug to cope with their illnesses.
"We are implicitly inviting people who are sick to go out and find
illegal drug dealers to procure what for them is medicine," he said.
"That is not acceptable in a civilized society."
Debby Miran, 55, of Towson said she has struggled for years with
leukemia, and smoking marijuana helped her cope for four months after a
bone-marrow transplant. After the transplant, she lost her ability to
taste, suffered severe nausea and at one point weighed less than 100
pounds. Marijuana was the only thing that worked, she said.
"My goal was not to get high, but rather to stimulate my appetite," she
said. "There are many Marylanders suffering a variety of illnesses. I
know; I've been there. We should make medical marijuana available to
them."
Nov 24, 2009 - Maryland must reform its medical marijuana laws
Text copied from: http://thechurchillobserver.com/opinions/2009/11/24/maryland-must-reform-its-medical-marijuana-laws/
The Churchill Observer, Winston-Churchill High School award winning newspaper
By Vasant Joseph
Although the street corners of Montgomery County are hardly rife with drug dealers, recreational marijuana use is still prevalent among teens and young adults, and according to a 2005 Monitoring the Future study, cited by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), 44.7 percent of high school seniors have tried marijuana during their lifetime. With the Justice Department’s newest changes to its drug laws, the cause for marijuana’s legalization is gaining traction, even as the state of Maryland lags behind the times in its drug policies.
According to an Oct. 20 Washington Post article, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced that federal prosecutors would no longer target medical marijuana patients in lawsuits, instead focusing the government’s efforts on large-scale drug traffickers. However, patients are only protected from legal harassment if they live in one of the 14 states which have established a legal process for obtaining medical marijuana; Maryland is not one of those states.
Unlike other states, Maryland has no legal method for ill patients to purchase medical marijuana. According to Henry Heller, a member of the Maryland House of Delegates who supports changing the medical marijuana law, patients can get a note from their doctor to recommend the use of marijuana, but police can still arrest those patients and charge them with a $100 fine if they are caught possessing marijuana. Because there are no medical marijuana dispensaries in Maryland, patients are forced to find their own marijuana dealer and purchase the drug at their own risk.
According to Heller, the medical marijuana law has been a concern for Maryland legislators, and he tried to create a task force to objectively evaluate the law and determine its fairness. Unfortunately, the bill did not receive a vote from the House Judiciary Committee.
By failing to provide a safe way for patients to access medical marijuana, Maryland is neglecting its sick residents and treating them like criminals. In order to obtain marijuana, patients have to go through the same dangerous process as recreational users, and as a result, they face unjust punishment from police. Patients already have to deal with the burden of buying marijuana from dubious sources, and the legal system further adds to their distress by charging them with misdemeanors. Legislators need to create a new medical marijuana law so that patients can purchase marijuana at dispensaries without having to worry about the safety of the drug or legal persecution.
Critics of a medical marijuana law may argue that recreational drug users would take advantage of marijuana dispensaries by obtaining fake medical marijuana cards. While some degree of misconduct is bound to happen, lawmakers need to consider how greatly legal dispensaries would benefit legitimately ill patients. According to an Oct. 27 Washington Post article, marijuana can relieve chronic pain and nausea while increasing appetite, which can help patients with illnesses like multiple sclerosis or AIDS. It has been scientifically proven that marijuana can improve many symptoms in ill patients.
Although the legalization of marijuana promises to be a significant issue in the near future, medical marijuana remains a more pressing concern. Maryland and other states throughout the country must first reform their medical marijuana laws before legislators can consider fully decriminalizing the drug.
Nov 10, 2009 - Calling for a cannabis cure: A local medical marijuana user speaks to students about her experience with the drug
Text copied from: http://www.diamondbackonline.com/news/calling-for-a-cannabis-cure-1.892625
The Diamondback, University of Maryland's Independent Daily Student Newspaper
By Jaclyn Borowski
Pamela Hughes has battled fibromyalgia and two bouts of cancer. She tried to fight the overwhelming pain with prescription drugs, but they took too much out of her.
“I couldn’t function [with the prescription drugs],” she said. “I was like a zombie.”
So Hughes was forced to turn to a more controversial option: medical marijuana.
The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws brought Hughes to the university last night as part of a campaign advocating the legalization of medical marijuana in this state, less than a week after Maine passed a referendum legalizing the drug.
While this state’s Darrell Putman Medical Research Compassionate Use Act allowed her doctor to prescribe the drug, state law doesn’t protect her the way laws in California or Maine would. Medicinal users of cannabis can still be arrested and convicted. Only after conviction can defendants show they have a prescription. If a judge believes them, they still receive a reduced punishment: a $100 fine and a misdemeanor conviction.
Hughes had a first-hand experience with what she said was the unfairness of the law. She was smoking a marijuana cigarette in a park to battle her pain. When police arrived, Hughes had a copy of the law and a doctor’s note, but even after police spoke on the phone with her doctor, she was arrested.
“Why am I being fined for something I’m allowed to use?” Hughes asked. “That’s like fining someone for taking insulin.”
Hughes said she was lucky: The police and judge were willing to work with her. She eventually received only a $100 fine. But the judge made it clear that the only place she was safe to use medical marijuana was at home.
Damien Nichols and Thomas Wright, both of the state’s chapter of Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana advocacy organization, said Hughes’ story pointed to extensive flaws in state law. They want this state to become the sixth state to legalize marijuana dispensaries.
“The black market — that’s not how you’re supposed to get medicine,” explained Nichols, discussing the methods that medical marijuana users have to use to get their medication.
For the nearly 25 people in attendance at NORML's event, it was an informative experience that also advocated for the legalization of medical marijuana use in this state.
"It really humanized it for me," said Andrew, a senior agricultural engineering major who declined to give his last name to protect his job. "It was interesting to meet someone who’s been stuck with the conflict to put some perspective into it."
Nov 3, 2009 - Reform madness: New policy inspires hope in marijuana advocates
Text copied from: http://bthesite.com/archives/2009/11/reform-madness-new-policy-inspires-hope-in-marijuana-advocates/
B Free Daily, of the Baltimore Sun
by Jordan Bartel
If you had asked him two weeks ago, Zach Brown would have said he didn’t think marijuana legalization would happen in his lifetime.
Things have quickly changed. Brown, the president of the University of Maryland, College Park chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, now is optimistic the country will see significant change in perhaps two decades.
“It seems up until this point, we’ve been working against the wind in a way, pushing our goals to hard opposition,” Brown said. “But there’s now a rapid growth of support. The winds have changed, and we’re riding with them now.”
It’s an exciting time for marijuana advocates, and Brown, a 19-year-old sophomore and Eagle Scout, feels even more motivated to push his cause.
On Oct. 19, the U.S. Justice Department announced it would not devote federal resources to prosecuting people who use medical marijuana, as long as they complied with state law, in a reversal of Bush administration policy.
The wind Brown feels blowing in his direction is currently a light breeze, but, he said, one that could have ripple effects. “It seems like this is finally at least a small acknowledgment of the irrationality of the war on drugs.,” he said. “It’s grounds for a whole bunch of movements pushing forward.”
Other marijuana advocates — who prefer the term “regulation” over “legalization,” place marijuana on par with alcohol or tobacco — take a similarly cautious tone. “It’s a positive step, but it’s hard to be overwhelmed by this,” said Tyler Smith, 28, campaigns director for the international organization Students for Sensible Drug Policy and a Baltimore native. Smith became interested in marijuana law when, as part of the Gilman School debate club, he had to argue for legalization, and he’s optimistic that he’ll see meaningful reform in the next decade.
Maryland is one of 14 states with a medical marijuana regulation bill on the books. Passed in 2003, the Darrell Putman Compassionate Use Act allows for possession of less than an ounce of marijuana if a defendant can prove he is using the drug out of medical necessity. Defendants still must go to court and face a $100 fine. Advocates characterize Maryland’s medical marijuana law as the strictest in the country.
Damien Nichols, 27, the member coordinator for the Maryland chapter of Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana advocacy group, said via e-mail that Maryland’s existing law is “so weak and vague that patients are not protected from arrest or even conviction.”
“What’s worse, most doctors and police officers are completely unfamiliar with the existing law,” Nichols said. “So it is difficult to get a doctor’s recommendation, and common for patients to be treated like petty criminals.”
Advocates said the Obama administration’s decision may change discussion in the state about the law. This year, Del. Henry Heller (D-Montgomery County), worked with Americans for Safe Access to introduce a bill that would have created a task force to make recommendations about the state’s medical marijuana law. The measure died in committee without any vote. Heller’s office did not respond to interview requests.
Advocates see the potential economic impact of a regulated marijuana industry, the drug’s effectiveness at treating symptoms of a wide range of diseases and the potential to decriminalize violent drug trafficking as factors that may revive debate. Recent polls suggest more Americans support legalization. While 75 percent of Americans supported doctors prescribing marijuana for medical uses in a 2003 Gallup poll, an all-time high of 44 percent favored making marijuana legal in a Gallup poll conducted last month, almost double what it was in the mid-1980s. The number of adults who favored legalization increased by 8 percentage points from just 2005 to 2009.
But the Obama administration has made it clear the policy change in no way reflects a wish to legalize marijuana. “Marijuana legalization, for any purpose, remains a non-starter in the Obama administration,” said White House Office of National Drug Policy Director R. Gil Kerlikowske in a statement. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, in a statement, also reinforced its goal of dismantling traffickers on the Mexico-U.S. border.
Generally, opponents say legalization will not bring in a large amount of tax revenue and that marijuana is an addictive drug that could lead to dependence on other drugs. Conservative commentators, such as Laura Ingraham, have criticized the administration’s policy change. “Does this mean that brownies are going to be for sale at CVS and Walgreens?” Ingraham said on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulous.”
Rush Limbaugh has long scoffed at the idea of legalizing both medical marijuana and marijuana for recreational use. “The FDA says there’s no — zilch, zero, nada — shred of medicinal value to the evil weed marijuana,” Limbaugh said on his radio show in 2006. National nonprofit The Partnership for a Drug Free America, which has produced several anti-marijuana TV public service announcements, did not respond to interview requests.
Dr. Donna Cox, the director of Towson University’s Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Abuse Prevention Center, has a background in nursing and has taught a “drugs in our culture” course. Cox said there’s probably no way of knowing if and when more marijuana reforms will take place. “Do I believe this will lead to anything more dramatic at this point?” she said. “Given policy history and sociological factors, it’s not going to happen overnight if there is going to be change.”
But marijuana advocates remain optimistic that change will come in their lifetime. Nichols, a UMCP graduate, got involved because his father has glaucoma and he has friends with diseases whose symptoms, such as nausea, are alleviated with marijuana. “I see comprehensive protections for patients, doctors and caregivers being implemented in the near future,” he said. “I see sick people pulled out of the crosshairs of the drug war.”
Brown said his focus is reaching out to students, staff and faculty on campus to show “what the facts are instead of the fearful presumptions of the past.”
“At this point, we’re still at the infant stages of the movement,” Brown said. “You know the psychological foot-in-door effect? We just started to get in the door, but we don’t have a body yet.”
Jordan Bartel is the assistant editor at b. E-mail him at jordan@bthesite.com
Oct 26, 2009 - Medical Marijuana In Maryland
Listen to this Kojo Nnamdi Show on WAMU:
http://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2009-10-26/medical-marijuana-maryland
Medical marijuana is still banned in Maryland, but a medical diagnosis can help you reduce your sentence to just a $100 fine. What might happen next?
Guests are Hank Heller (D-Montgomery County) and former delegate Don Murphy (R-Catonsville/Howard County 1995-2003) of the Maryland House of Delegates.
Oct 21, 2009 - Up in smoke Our view: Ending medicinal marijuana raids is a belated act of compassion
Damien Nichols of MD Safe Access has comments published in Baltimore Sun:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bal-ed.marijuana21oct21,0,4752269.story
Baltimore Sun - Our View
Having Drug Enforcement Administration agents bust the sick who smoke marijuana for such nefarious purposes as relieving the nausea of chemotherapy was one of the more ridiculous boondoggles of the Bush administration. Rarely have federal drug enforcement resources been more misdirected than on these half-baked raids.
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.'s instruction to federal prosecutors to back away from cases against medical marijuana patients is a sign that the Justice Department has finally sworn off whatever had temporarily impaired reason in the agency.
Monday's action does not really steer the nation toward a new policy on marijuana use. Rather, it would seem to set the stage for a more rational approach to regulating medical marijuana.
After all, using limited federal resources to go after ordinary people who are deemed in a number of states to have legitimate cause to use marijuana was akin to sending the FBI to conduct mass arrests of mattress tag cutters. Sure, it's against the law, but have police nothing better to do?
In Maryland, lawmakers grappled with this issue six years ago and agreed that anyone arrested for possession of a small amount of marijuana who can demonstrate "medical necessity" gets no more than a $100 fine. Parking tickets can be worse.
Despite pressure from the White House, Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. signed that measure into law, and somehow the state didn't fall apart.
A pill form of marijuana's active ingredient, THC, has been legally available as a prescription for years, but it's been found wanting. A wrist-slap penalty for medicinal marijuana was a compromise: Maryland didn't legalize sale or possession any more than the Justice Department did this week.
It's not enough. If society genuinely believes in the medicinal use of marijuana, then patients need more than the comfort of knowing they won't make the FBI's Most Wanted List. They need to be able to legally acquire it with a doctor's prescription.
Distribute a controlled, dangerous substance through pharmacies? That's hardly groundbreaking stuff. Cocaine is used for medicinal purposes, too, as are a number of other narcotics.
But to get to that point will require the federal government to not only hold back the SWAT teams but to decriminalize medicinal marijuana. That's an unlikely prospect considering the sharp criticism leveled this week by Republicans at Mr. Holder's exercise of discretion.
In the meantime, states including Maryland ought to at least toss out the penalties. Nobody should have to pay so much as a $1 fine for taking medicine his or her doctor has decided is medically necessary. As Republican health care reform opponents like to say, let's not allow government to get between patients and their doctors.
Readers respond
You are right that state and federal laws should be congruent, but there are negatives to legalization.
I have one patient who smokes it for his glaucoma, rejecting the traditional, less addictive treatments for his condition. Another was charged with possession and intent to distribute, and she wanted me to write a note for her after the event, saying I advised her to use marijuana for anxiety and depression. I refused, but you see the mess medical marijuana can create for doctors.
A doctor
We at MD Safe Access are especially pleased that you recognize the critical need for safe, legal supply. Maryland's sick and dying residents are currently in great personal danger from both sides of the law. One member of our organization was robbed at gunpoint during a transaction for his medicine. Another has been arrested twice for possession, even though he had two doctors' recommendations. Until the law in Maryland is altered to clear up significant ambiguities and provide safe supply, our friends and neighbors will continue to be caught in the crossfire of the larger war on drugs.
Damien Nichols
The writer is member coordinator of MD Safe Access.
Oct 20, 2009 - Damien Nichols of MD Safe Access on WAMU Radio
http://wamu.org/audio/nw/09/10/n3091020-29623.asx
Oct 19, 2009 - Pamela Hughes on Channel 9 Following DoJ News
Oct 16, 2009 - From Corruption to Cannabis, Pr. George's Residents Vent Concerns to Elected Leaders
This article refers to "Two men from a group promoting medical marijuana also got a turn," this refers to MD Safe Access leaders Damien Nichols and John Killian Jones:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/annapolis/2009/10/from_corruption_to_cannabis_pr.html
Washington Post Blog - Maryland Politics
By Jonathan Mummolo
There were no shortage of signs this week that the 2010 elections are heating up in Prince George's County. First, the police union launched an ad campaign--aimed as much at elected officials as candidates for next year--decrying the current county leadership for budget cuts. Thursday afternoon, County Executive Jack B. Johnson's chief of staff Michael Herman--rumored to be weighing a run for State Senate--stepped down.
And Thursday night, a community forum designed to give residents a chance to vent concerns to politicians ran deep into the night, even turning rowdy at one point, when attendees were told they'd have to shorten their remarks so everyone could have a turn.
The over-arching message from the dozens of speakers? Fix Prince George's County, or we'll find folks who can.
The forum, held at the First Baptist Church of Glenarden, began shortly after 7 p.m. Attendees were invited to take the mic for three minutes each to address a panel that included Johnson, members of the Prince George's House and Senate Delegation, and law enforcement officials.
There was no back-and-forth dialogue. The panel just had to sit there and hear the pleas, complaints and, at times, outright insults of residents, over issues ranging from medical marijuana and animal cruelty to unwelcome development and public corruption.
There were the students complaining of unhealthy, "greasy food" in the cafeteria and having substitute teachers "for an entire year." There was the man pleading for quality staffing--not cronyism--in the county's auditing division to ensure sufficient oversight. There was the woman who sermonized about how God's defective GPS is preventing him from finding Prince George's County. And there was the man who waived--but refrained from throwing--his shoes in outrage.
Along with the myriad concerns raised--of the need for more development around Metro stations, better health care and smaller class sizes--there were some suggestions too. One man asked that a green expo be held to showcase green jobs and vendors. Some students at the University of Maryland lobbied for Good Samaritan policies, which help protect underage people from getting in trouble if they seek medical help for a friend that drank too much. Another student asked for better recycling in schools.
In other words, there was local politics.
Albert Colby, 84, came to shed light on the conditions at the Cameron Grove senior community where he lives. He and other seniors have been reaching out to the County Council for help with mold, leaky windows and other defects, saying county inspectors failed to cite the complex's developer for shoddy construction. The development sits in the district of Council Member Samuel H. Dean (D-Mitchellville), who is running for County Executive, but who sent representatives in his place last night.
"Four years ago, I moved into this development hoping this could be the place I could live for the rest of my life," Colby said. "I'm totally disappointed in my councilman."
Then Colby gave the officials a vivid demonstration of a cardinal rule of politics: Never let constituents think you are missing in action.
"Councilman Dean, I had hoped would be here, but he seems to be missing, the same way he seems to be missing so many other times," said Colby, to loud jeers from the crowd.
Dean was not the only one to send a representative in his stead. U.S. Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Barbara Mikulski (D-Md), Reps. Donna Edwards (D-Md.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and former Del. Rushern L. Baker III, who is running for county executive, were also no-shows.
But the show went on.
Carlos Lopez, of the Prince George's Youth Commission, complained of technology classes "where there are no computers."
Two men from a group promoting medical marijuana also got a turn. One asked the crowd, "How many people support this issue?" at which point Johnson and Del. Melony G. Griffith (D-Prince George's) raised their hands, to huge laughter and applause.
"If someone is dying from cancer, why not?" Johnson said when asked about the issue after the forum. "I don't have a problem with that."
Johnson, who arrived late--he said he had been in New York all day working on issues related to the county's finances--sat in the center of the panel wearing a bright red sweater under his blazer. He got an earful at times, accused by one man of abusing the perks of his office and having seven county cars.
"There are no personal benefits," he responded to the crowd at the end of the night. "There are two automobiles assigned to the county executive's office. .... The point is that all of us serve honorably."
The forum wound down around 10:30 p.m., but many stayed after to approach officials directly. State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey--who is considering a bid for county executive--praised the "good, substantive ideas on a variety of topics." State Senator Douglas J.J. Peters (D-Prince George's) encouraged people to send him e-mails so he could help them find the right agencies to address their problems. Griffith left with a legal pad full of pages of notes on the issues raised, intent on taking up the suggestion of a speaker who urged the panel to ride the public bus to observe the state of county transportation.
"I'm going to do it," Griffith said. "I'm going to see how long it takes to get to work."
Now, with all the issues thrown against the wall last night, the question heading into 2010 is: Which ones will stick?
