Pubdate: Sun, 13 Dec 2009
Source: Foster's Daily Democrat (Dover, NH)
Copyright: 2009 Geo. J. Foster Co.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/mYsCsdPU
Website: http://www.fosters.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/160
Author: Adam D. Krauss
Cited: Maine Citizens for Patients Rights http://www.mainepatientsrights.org/
Cited: NORML http://www.norml.org/
Cited: Drug Policy Alliance http://www.drugpolicy.org/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 (Cannabis - Medicinal - United States)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/dispensaries

Slow Burn:

NEW MAINE MARIJUANA RULES WILL TAKE TIME TO IMPLEMENT

A task force has until the end of the month to recommend how Maine 
should implement its new medical marijuana law, which calls for a 
patient registry and dispensaries.

Maine Gov. John Baldacci convened the 14-member group to "implement 
the will of the people" after nearly 60 percent of voters backed 
Question 5 in November. He said the group will ensure there are 
"appropriate safeguards in place to protect the public health and safety."

As soon as the votes were counted, state officials started hearing 
from people "interested in getting or growing marijuana," said Lucky 
Hollander, director of legislative relations at the Department of 
Health and Human Services.

The group's recommendations are due by Dec. 31, and then the 
Legislature will begin its review. Final rules are expected to be in 
place in the spring.

Baldacci's executive order forming the task force directs members to 
consider what's taken place in 13 other states that allow medical 
marijuana, including the four -- Rhode Island, New Mexico, Colorado 
and California -- that are dispensary states.

By supporting the change, voters backed a citizen initiative that 
resuscitated a bill state lawmakers had rejected. The new law permits 
people with "debilitating medical conditions," as diagnosed by a 
physician licensed in Maine, to use medical marijuana if they get 
written certification from the physician vouching for the drug's 
therapeutic benefits.

The law also changes the description of the medical conditions that 
warrant medical use of marijuana, including cancer, glaucoma, AIDS, 
hepatitis C, Chron's disease and conditions that produce "intractable pain."

"With this new law, there are currently tens of thousands of those 
qualified patients in the state of Maine," said Jonathan Leavitt, 
Question 5's official proponent and coordinator with Maine Citizens 
for Patients Rights.

Patients, upon registering with the state, would get an 
identification card qualifying them to possess no more than 2 1/2 
ounces of marijuana. Residents can receive the drug from a caregiver 
who they are linked to in the registration process, or if needed, 
possess up to six plants to obtain the drug themselves.

There will be nonprofit dispensaries, which will be able to "acquire, 
possess, cultivate, manufacture, use, deliver, transfer or transport" 
the drug without fear of prosecution. There is no limit to the number 
of patients a dispensary can serve.

Allen St. Pierre, a native Mainer and executive director for the 
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said 
dispensary operators, possibly including those already doing business 
in other states, likely will look to locate to locales where "the 
local mores and values" support the law and already attract retail businesses.

Josh Stanley, owner of the Denver-based Peace in Medicine Center, a 
medicinal cannabis dispensary that also offers yoga and nutrition 
classes, said he's reviewing Maine's law and gauging public opinion 
to see if the state could serve as a good satellite location for his company.

"We're in the middle of looking at the legislative rulings in that 
state," he said. "We want to work closely with legislators to see 
what they want to see."

St. Pierre said local governing bodies also likely will be more 
receptive than in the past since "today, across the country, baby 
boomers are in control," and "they have a much different attitude 
about marijuana than the prior generation."

Ethan Nadelmann of the New York-based Drug Policy Alliance has said 
dispensaries won't populate Maine like they do Los Angeles because of 
stricter provisions here. In Maine, unlike California, all 
dispensaries will need state licenses.

Until the new rules are finalized, however, it's unclear what form 
the dispensaries will take or where they'll end up. The law, however, 
allows communities to limit the number of dispensaries operating locally.

Maine's law also directs DHHS to establish application and renewal 
fees that will cover administering the law. Leavitt said "revenue 
from this new program should be paying for Maine's expansion of its 
agricultural base."

At Tuesday's task force meeting, the confidentiality of those who 
participate was at issue. The panel opposes making the names public 
on the Internet or elsewhere, but members agreed the names would be 
made available to police in a "silent registry" if needed as part of 
an investigation.

Ten years ago, voters approved a medical marijuana program that let 
them possess the drug, but the measure didn't address how the public 
could legally access it.

Under the new law, "eligible patients must have documents and part of 
it includes information that a physician has reviewed the use of 
medical marijuana and that the physician feels that it might or may 
provide therapeutic value," said Bill Savage, senior assistant 
attorney general.

Still, it's not expected the state's doctors will universally adopt the option.

"I think that doctors, just like the population at large, are going 
to have widely divergent views about this," said Andy MacLean, the 
deputy executive vice president at the Maine Medical Association.

The association hasn't taken a position on the law but is willing to 
aid in its implementation and ensure doctors are aware of certain 
concerns, including potential liability issues, MacLean said.

"We are talking about an unregulated substance that may have 
impurities in it," he said.

The law doesn't require doctors to recommend medial marijuana use, 
MacLean said.

Sanford physician Bill Chernin agreed that opinion among doctors 
varies but thinks "most of us are fairly open-minded," so long as use 
of medical marijuana proves beneficial to the patient and the drug 
doesn't make its way "to another segment of the population."

He said he's had patients who say they smoke marijuana at night to 
help them sleep or to perk their appetite or decrease anxiety.

"For some of them it does do the trick and maybe what I have to offer 
is no better and may be more dangerous," he said. "I think we all 
recommend marijuana use in excess can have its downfalls as well."

The law before the task force also says someone visiting Maine can 
use medical marijuana if they have a registration card or its 
equivalent from another state. But Savage said other states' laws 
will apply should a user from Maine be in another state. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake