State marijuana laws, which say smugglers have to bring 100 pounds into Maryland before police may charge them with a felony, are inadequate to deal with today's drug trade, police and prosecutors told the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday.
"We are continuing to encounter more smuggling of 5- , 10- and 15-pound quantities," Carroll County State's Attorney Jerry Barnes said in support of a bill to drop the felony marijuana-smuggling limit to 10 pounds.
"In 1980, when this legislation was enacted, marijuana was $15 an ounce," he said. "Today, it is $300 to $400 an ounce. The drug is now more valuable, and it is less risky to import it in small quantities."
Under the legislation proposed by Sen. Larry E. Haines, a Westminster Republican, a convicted smuggler could be sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Now, a smuggler who brings less than 100 pounds of marijuana into the state faces a maximum five-year sentence, Mr. Barnes said.
"The smart drug dealers are not bringing in large quantities," said Sgt. Joseph Bisesi, an officer with the Anne Arundel County narcotics unit. "A dealer can bring in a small amount well under the 100-pound limit and still make a lot of money."
Advanced growing techniques have made the drug more potent and more valuable, supporters said. A dealer bringing in 9 pounds a week could clear $216,000 a year easily, Sergeant Bisesi said.
Mr. Barnes said it is now easier for officers to detect 100 pounds of marijuana, which often is transported in a bale about the size of a large kitchen trash can.
"A 100-pound bale is cumbersome and has a lot of odor," he said, noting that most police agencies have access to drug-sniffing dogs. "You don't need to bring in 100 pounds. Five or 10 will give the same results."
Although officials from the State Police, the Maryland National Guard and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency destroyed 5,758 marijuana plants in Maryland last year, much more came across state lines, Mr. Haines said.
Often, the drug was grown within the United States, supporters of the bill said.
"This is exacerbating a problem we already have in Maryland," said Major Earl Dennis, commander of the Maryland State Police's drug enforcement division.
"The United States will soon be the No. 1 producer of marijuana in the world," he said. "Right now it's Mexico, but we're running a close second."