‘TONE DEAF:’ As the 2017 legislative session wound down Monday evening, five men sat on couches in a lounge inside Maryland’s State House. They would soon decide the fate of a bill that would allow a woman who is raped and conceives a child to terminate the parental rights of her assailant, writes Catherine Rentz of the Sun. “Although I have great respect for colleagues, not having women on the committee was tone-deaf,” said Sen. Cheryl Kagan, who stood over over the men at the conference with her arms crossed, overseeing the group with Sen. Delores G. Kelley.
RX POT PATIENT REGISTRY OPENS: About 1,200 patients have registered with the state to eventually obtain medical cannabis — even as lawsuits and political fights cloud the future of the fledgling industry, writes Pamela Wood for the Sun. The Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission opened its prospective patient registry to Marylanders with last names beginning with letters A through L on Monday.
NATIONAL IMPACT: The drug Naloxone, often sold under the brand name Narcan, has become a critical tool in the fight against the opioid epidemic. But since the drug’s ability to counter overdoses became popularized in 2014, its price has more than doubled. Tim Curtis of the Daily Record writes that the General Assembly passed a bill that will allow Attorney General Brian Frosh to investigate and take legal action against the manufacturers of off-patent drugs determined to be price gouging. Supporters of the legislation predict it may well have a national impact.
