Medical marijuana distribution could be handled solely by academic institutions, or physicians could be allowed to recommend its use while the state regulates growers and distributors - these are the two options being recommended by a work group created by the state legislature. Medical marijuana distribution could be handled solely by academic institutions, or physicians could be allowed to recommend its use while the state regulates growers and distributors - these are the two options being recommended by a work group created by the state legislature.

In May, Gov. Martin O'Malley signed into law a bill providing a legal defense for marijuana use by patients who have been diagnosed with a debilitating medical condition that is "severe and resistant to conventional medicine."

But the new law does not permit the possession of medical marijuana in Maryland, since lawmakers wanted to research that issue first. So the law created the Maryland Medical Marijuana Model Program Work Group and assigned it to make recommendations.

"It's still a crime to possess marijuana for medical use," said Debbie Miran, a chemist, work group member and leukemia survivor.

Karen O'Keefe, another work group member and director of state policies at the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C., said, "There's no way for a patient to get the marijuana other than a drug dealer, and it's a felony to grow it,"

Members of the work group set out to create a model that would allow for further research into medical marijuana and more comprehensive legislation.