In an effort to get tough with drug dealers, Sen. Larry E. Haines has introduced bills that would strengthen penalties on marijuana smuggling and would make murder during drug violations a death penalty offense.
But defense attorneys in the Baltimore area said the proposed laws might not accomplish what Mr. Haines and some prosecutors have envisioned.
"Both of these things can be said to have sex appeal for the voter who is concerned about drugs but who does not understand the issues," said Daniel F. Goldstein, a Baltimore defense attorney. "They can't be taken seriously by anyone concerned with drug policy."
The smuggling bill, which was supported by Maryland State Police officers and prosecutors at a hearing before the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Thursday, would make it a felony to bring 10 pounds of marijuana into Maryland.
Current law makes it a felony to smuggle 100 pounds of marijuana into the state.
The law carries a penalty of 25 years in jail or a $50,000 fine.
Smugglers who bring less than 100 pounds into Maryland face a maximum five-year sentence.
"I believe we need to do everything we possibly can to deter the use of drugs," said Mr. Haines, a Republican from Westminster.
"One of the biggest sources of controlled dangerous substances in the state is smuggling," he said.
Prosecutors and police argue that marijuana is more potent and more valuable than ever, allowing dealers to make more money with less.
In addition, smaller amounts are harder to detect by drug dogs and officers.
Marijuana that sold for $15 an ounce in 1980 now brings prices of $300 to $400 an ounce, said Carroll County State's Attorney Jerry Barnes, who drafted both bills.
"It makes more sense to have the lower levels," said Michael McKelvin, spokesman for the Maryland State Police. "In the 1980s, 100 pounds was the most common amount. The influx was tonnage from all over the world and we were a distribution point.
"You don't see that anymore. We're having a much greater number of seizures in the 1- to 10-pound range."
Defense attorneys, however, said the bill is likely to encourage couriers to make more trips with smaller amounts to escape felony charges.
Mr. Goldstein compared legislators making this proposal to fishermen who chop starfish caught in their nets into pieces to kill them.
"Before they knew that starfish regenerated themselves, they'd tear them into five pieces," he said.
"The result was five more starfish. They seem to have a habit in the legislature of trying variations on strategies that have repeatedly failed and making things worse," he said.
The proposal would result in catching more "nickel and dime" couriers and college students rather than serious drug dealers, the defense attorneys said.
"It creates an awful large sweep and sucks in people that might otherwise have been rehabilitated," said Baltimore defense attorney Gary S. Bernstein.
"Somebody goes to pick it up for everyone else in the fraternity and gets into an incredible amount of trouble. Not that they should be doing it, but how much damage do you want to do to the lives of people who can be expected to have a better future?" he said.
But, in some cases, those are exactly the people police want to target, Mr. McKelvin said.
"These couriers are often juveniles and people in their early 20s," he said. "They get charged with a misdemeanor, plead out and there is no great effect on their criminal histories.
"If they get charged with a felony, it's hard to plead out and it really hits them. If these marijuana couriers and drug dealers get some time, it will have an impact on their way of life."
Job training and better education would probably have a stronger and more lasting impact, said Stuart Comstock-Gay, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland.
"I think we really have to look at what we have to offer people who are engaged in the illegal drug trade," he said.
"An alternative should be job training, adequate education and good jobs," he said.
Defense attorneys expressed more concerns about the death penalty bill, which Mr. Haines and Mr. Barnes said is designed to strengthen penalties for drive-by shooters who kill innocent victims.
"It is rare that the intended person gets killed in these situations," Mr. Barnes said.
"These are the most senseless situations of violence that produce death. You can't get any more reckless or callous than these types of situations," he said.
But defense attorneys, who agreed that drive-by shootings are horrible, said they doubted this legislation would help ease the problem.
It would be extremely difficult to tie a drive-by shooting to a drug crime, they said.
"If a drug dealer doesn't like that someone has moved in on his corner, drives by and shoots him, a drug crime is not being committed," Mr. Goldstein said.
"It's like trying to put the corner Wal-Mart out of business," he said.
"A price battle between Kmart and the Wal-Mart across the street doesn't have anything to do with the pharmaceutical business or the production of paper towels. This is just a more violent way to try and put out the competition," he said
To charge a drive-by shooter under this proposal, prosecutors would have to prove that the slaying was the result of a drug transaction gone bad or retaliation for a dealer moving in on someone else's market.
"When a drive-by shooter gets picked up, he never tells the police, 'Yes, I just killed that guy and, by the way, it was over a drug debt' " said Victor Houlson, a Prince George's County defense attorney. "There is no way you're going to prove the shooting was drug-related."
Trying to make the connection between the two would create a trial within a trial, said Thomas Morrow, a Towson defense attorney.
Prosecutors would first need to prove that the drug crime occurred before they could substantiate asking for the death penalty, he said.
"That may actually aid the defense in detracting from the crime itself," Mr. Morrow said.
Ultimately, bills such as these usually are ineffective because they only attack the supply side of dealing, Mr. Houlson said.
"Drug laws are a total waste of time because it's a demand problem, not a supply problem," he said. "For whatever reason, there will always be people in this society who have a need to anesthetize themselves. If there was no such thing as illegal drugs, they'd be sniffing glue or gas fumes.
"The problem is that for each drug dealer you take off the street, there are 10 people willing to kill each other to take his place," Mr. Houlson said.
"If you would take all the money used to arrest, prosecute and incarcerate these people and put it toward ensuring the well-being of children, there wouldn't be a demand and it would eventually die off," he said.