The Maryland House of Delegates rejected a bill proposing the decriminalization of marijuana on Thursday, Reuters reported.
However, the House Judiciary Committee voted to create a task force to investigate decriminalization over the next two years, according to Ryan Lhotsky, chief of staff for state Sen. Bobby Zirkin, who sponsored the bill.
"Hopefully it's not officially dead, but it's not the result we were looking for," Lhotsky told Reuters, adding there was only a small chance the bill could be revived.
The Democrat-controlled Senate approved the bill last month. If passed by the House, it would have made less than 10 grams of marijuana a civil offense -- opposed to a criminal one -- reducing the penalty to a $100 fine.
Currently, two states -- Colorado and Washington -- permit the recreational use of marijuana. Additionally, twenty states and the District of Columbia allow pot use for several health issues.
Although pot is illegal according to federal law, 15 states, the District of Columbia, and numerous cities have moved away from arresting people for possession of tiny amounts of it.
The attitude towards drug policy continues to be debated in the U.S. A recent Pew Research Center study demonstrated two-thirds of Americans believe heroin addicts should be placed in treatment instead of prison.
The survey also found that 63 percent of adults say states moving away from mandatory sentencing for non-violent drug offenders is a "good thing," in comparison to the 32 percent that believe it is a "bad thing."
Last month, Pew released a study showing 54 percent of Americans believe pot should be legalized, compared to a study conducted in 2010 that essentially had the same amount opposing legalization.