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Medical marijuana supporters rallied on the steps of the Pennsylvania State Capitol on June 1, 2015.

(David Wenner, PennLive)

One man is blocking the will of the people and preventing them from having legal access to medical marijuana.

That's the contention of a small group of medical marijuana supporters who rallied Monday and planned to deliver petitions to state Rep. Matt Baker, chair of the house health committee.

The Tioga County Republican has said he doesn't plan to hold a vote on SB 3, which recently passed the senate 40-7, and which now sits in Baker's committee. Baker has said Pennsylvania legislators should not allow access to a drug that isn't approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.





SB 3 would enable doctors to prescribe marijuana or marijuana-derived medications to people afflicted with a wide range of illnesses, including seizures, cancer, multiple sclerosis and post traumatic stress syndrome. It would set up a state board to oversee the process and a system to license and regulate producers, dispensers and others involved in the process.



Supporters point to polls which show a majority of state residents support access to medical marijuana, which is allowed in about two dozen states, and to the lopsided vote in the senate. Gov. Tom Wolf also is open to medical marijuana.



But now they have run into the fact that, in Pennsylvania, a committee chair can block passage of a law by refusing to hold a vote.



"We are down but we are not out. We are not going away. Let us have a vote," said Christy Billett, a Huntingdon County resident. Billett said she is afflicted with tumors in her spine, and believes medical marijuana would shrink them and provide pain relief.



During an interview on Monday, Baker said the more he learns about the issue, the more convinced he becomes that passing SB 3 or something closely resembling it would do far more harm than good.



Baker said legislators have held three public hearings on the subject, and he has read about 1,000 pages of testimony related to the hearings. He said he has concluded that most medical groups, including the Pennsylvania Medical Society, the American Medical Association, the American Epilepsy Society and the American Academy of Pediatricians, believe more research is needed on the possible benefits and harms of marijuana-derived treatments, and oppose bills such as SB 3.



Asked why he won't put the bill up for a vote, Baker said it would be wrong for elected, non-medical, non-scientist state officials to "circumvent" federal law on a medical treatment, and as committee chair, he has a responsibility to prevent that. He said he's especially concerned by the fact that many of the marijuana-derived treatments would be aimed at children.



"I am just more concerned than ever this could lead to additional harm," he said. "We don't want to harm children. We don't want to harm adults. We don't want to create additional dependence, addiction ... The more I read, the more concerned I get."



Several speakers at Monday's rally said they or a loved one suffered from diseases including severe seizures and cancer. They argued that many of the approved medications they have taken cause severe side effects, including blindness and suicidal thoughts, which can be worse then the effects of the disease they are trying to treat.



The also argued that making medical marijuana available to chronic pain sufferers would reduce the number of overdoses caused by opioid painkillers, and reduce the level of heroin addiction, which usually begins with someone first becoming addicted to a painkiller.



State Rep. Ed Gainey, an Allegheny County Democrat, said the situation with Baker's committee will amount to a test of whether a legislative leader is committed to the will and best interests of state residents, or beholden to special interests.



Baker said he has great sympathy for children with severe seizures that get little benefit from approved medications, and supports research on marijuana-derived treatments. But it's important that such treatments go through the FDA approval process, he stressed.



About two dozen people, not counting reporters, attended Monday's rally.

This article has been revised.