Recreational marijuana could end up on ballot

Dec. 24—CUMBERLAND, Md. — The legalization of recreational cannabis may soon be decided by the voters with the issue appearing on the ballot.

The members of the Western Maryland delegation spoke about the issue last week at a pre-legislative breakfast held at the Toasted Goat in Frostburg. The delegation includes State Sen. George Edwards and Dels. Wendell Beitzel, Mike McKay and Jason Buckel.

"Where I think it will go? I think it will probably wind up a referendum," Buckel, who is the Republican minority leader in the House of Delegates, said.

"I'm on the work group for the study of recreational cannabis legalization," Buckel said. "The House and Senate are not often on the same page. The Senate president's approach seems to be to simply pass a bill legalizing recreational cannabis with a wide variety of regulation and rules to it. The Speaker of the House is less sanguine about that and would prefer to place it on a referendum in 2022 and let the voters decide."

Elected officials will soon be debating the issue, and many others, when the Maryland General Assembly convenes on Jan. 12.

One issue with legalization, according to Buckel, is the challenge it presents to law enforcement.

"I am very concerned about the effects on driving," he said. "There are really not any scientific or medical rules to discuss what is impairment if you are using marijuana. So you create these situations, where I think we know as adults, can cause issues."

Buckel said alcohol can be tested for with accuracy, but marijuana does not have an equivalent test.

"If you legalize marijuana use and it's analogous to cigarettes ... well it's just like smoking a cigarette. How does that police officer differentiate between 'you are impaired and you are simply using a legal substance?'"

Buckel said a test can tell if you have marijuana in your system but cannabis can register in your system several days after using it. Current testing also does not accurately indicate the level of cannabis in the blood stream and what level is considered impairment.

"There is a lot of issues," Buckel said. "How will it impact (the legal) medical cannabis growers? They have established businesses. If we legalize recreational marijuana, what type of impact will it have on those businesses who have spent tens of millions to establish their business and employee many in our community? Will they go out of business? Can they get a recreational license? Are they going to be able to compete with someone who is selling it in a (convenience store) situation? There is a lot of problems with it."

Jeremy Irons, vice president of The Belt Group, a construction firm, hosted the breakfast meeting. He said employers have issues with the idea. He said protections would be needed for employers.

"Something to take back with you is that certain employers it won't impact as much, but those of us that work in high-hazard, high-risk environments .... like hospitals, emergency services, power companies, construction ... this is a big problem," Irons said. "Trying to regulate that ... if there is an incident, there is no way to tell how much has been used, and what level are they impaired ... that is the question. Right now we have a little bit of cover because it is still illegal. But once that status goes away, it really opens a Pandora's box as far as the employers go. How do we keep our workforce safe?"

Buckel said he thinks the issue will be a voter referendum in 2022 and then the General Assembly will develop rules on how to implement the law, if it passes, in 2023.

Greg Larry is a reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. To reach him, call 304-639-4951, email glarry@times-news.com and follow him on Twitter.