On Apr. 9, the Maryland Senate voted 42-4 in favor of medical marijuana legislation.On May 2, Gov. Martin O'Malley signed the bill into law,
The House of Delegates previously approved the legislation by a 108-28 vote.
The bill calls for the creation of "academic medical centers" run by hospitals, not privately-owned dispensaries. They're not expected to open until 2015.
According to the MPP: "The new law is far from perfect - marijuana would only be provided through teaching hospitals, which may or may not be willing to move forward with a program for patients... Nonetheless, this bill is a step in the right direction, and we hope the state can provide relief to some of its neediest citizens."
It went into law on Oct. 1. On Sept. 12, O'Malley appointed 11 people to the medical-marijuana commission required by the law. Marijuana-reform activist Eric Sterling is among the 11.
However, Maryland is not included in most lists of medical-marijuana states (there are 20).
