AUGUSTA -- Two bills to broaden the decriminalization of marijuana in Maine got bipartisan support from lawmakers testifying at public hearings Thursday, but were opposed by law enforcement officials. One measure, L.D. 754, would double the amount of usable marijuana that individuals could possess and still have it treated as a civil, rather than criminal, offense. The other, L.D. 750, would decriminalize possession of up to six marijuana plants. "It is my fundamental belief that people who use marijuana for personal use on a recreational basis are not criminals," said state Rep. Ben Chipman, an independent from Portland, to lawmakers on the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee. [continues 585 words]
AUGUSTA, Maine -- Maine would have some of the nation's most relaxed laws when it comes to marijuana possession if a Portland lawmaker's efforts gain any traction in Augusta. Rep. Ben Chipman, I-Portland, on Thursday introduced LD 754, which would decriminalize possession of up to five ounces of marijuana, and LD 750, which would allow people to have up to six marijuana plants without facing criminal penalties. "It is my fundamental belief that people who use marijuana for personal use on a recreational basis are not criminals," Chipman told members of the Legislature's Criminal Justice Committee. [continues 698 words]
If all goes as planned, the Rhode Island Department of Health will announce Tuesday who has been selected to open dispensaries that will legally sell marijuana to patients who have been certified by doctors as needing the drug to help cope with debilitating pain or disease. But even if the groups proposing dispensaries go on a fast track to build facilities and start growing product, Rhode Island will not be the first state in New England to open such businesses. By the end of this month, one state-regulated dispensary will open in Frenchville, Maine, on the Canadian border, according to John Thiele, program manager for Maine's Medical Use of Marijuana Program. It will be the first on the East Coast. [continues 1414 words]
Mainers Want to Offer Suffering People Pain Relief, but Recreational Use Is a Different Issue. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., visited Maine last week, where he addressed about 100 people at an "expo" for legal cannabis growers in support of approving marijuana for recreational use. In a story headlined, "Cannabis battle is winnable, expo told," Frank was quoted as saying, "People who make a personal decision to smoke marijuana should not be subject to prosecution. This is the kind of fight that's worth winning. It's winnable." [continues 306 words]
U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass. told the state's first Maine Medical Marijuana Expo on Saturday that current laws against marijuana use are expensive, are applied unevenly and ought to be repealed. "People who make a personal decision to smoke marijuana should not be subject to prosecution," said Frank, noting that the movement has allies in the libertarian wing of the Republican Party. "This is the kind of fight that's worth making. It's winnable." The message was well received by an enthusiastic audience of about 100 people, including many vendors set up for the day-long exposition at the Fireside Inn & Suites on Riverside Street. [continues 538 words]
FORT KENT, Maine - Safe Alternatives, Aroostook County's first state-approved medical marijuana growing facility, is up and running in Frenchville with a contact list of close to a dozen people with conditions ranging from terminal cancer to multiple sclerosis requesting the herbal drug. What is lacking, according to Leo Trudel, the business's co-founders and spokesman, is a municipally approved dispensary for their product. Since August, Trudel, a business professor at the University of Maine at Fort Kent, has been working with Frenchville municipal officials to open a medical marijuana dispensary on property he currently owns in that town. [continues 857 words]
Rep. Barney Frank Stokes Optimism at a Fair Focusing on the State's Medical Marijuana Community. PORTLAND - U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass. told the state's first Maine Medical Marijuana Expo on Saturday that current laws against marijuana use are expensive, applied unevenly and ought to be repealed. "People who make a personal decision to smoke marijuana should not be subject to prosecution," said Frank, noting that the movement has allies in the libertarian wing of the Republican Party. "This is the kind of fight that's worth making. It's winnable." [continues 575 words]
The medical marijuana law passed by voters in 2009 was supposed to create greater access to the drug for those suffering from a lengthy list of illnesses. It replaced a 1999 law, also enacted at referendum, that made it legal to possess marijuana as medicine but offered no system for patients to obtain it. More than a year after the vote, and two months after the new registration system took effect, patients are still struggling to find doctors willing to write medical certificates, as is now required. And some patients are worse off than before. [continues 2352 words]
Biddeford's Medical Marijuana Dispensary Set to Open in March BIDDEFORD - Bill Harnden's life has been one of almost constant pain. He was born with degenerative disc disease and has chronic, intractable back pain from the five fused discs along his spine. He also had a non-malignant tumor on his brain stem removed, which has caused significant pain in his neck. Although the 60-year-old man from Auburn had worked in financial management, he had to give up his job in 2007 because of his condition. [continues 861 words]
Although I commend U.S. Attorney Thomas Delahanty's willingness to involve limited federal resources to the frightening prescription drug problem in Maine ("Agencies team up to fight prescription drug problem," Jan. 25), I feel that federal law enforcement is only a small part of the solution. I have two perspectives regarding the problem of prescription opiates in this state. One comes from representing insurance companies in workers' compensation cases where opiate addition is an issue; the second from being a court-appointed counsel in many criminal matters that involve opiate addiction. [continues 241 words]
A Production and Distribution System Unique in Medicine Could Bring Danger As Well As Relief. As implementation of the citizen-initiated medical marijuana law inches toward completion, we still have questions about what we are dealing with. Is this medicine, or is it an illegal drug? The answer continues to be sometimes one and sometimes the other. In addition to the highly regulated dispensaries that will open next month, 113 "caregivers" have registered with the state, giving them permission to grow pot for up to five patients. All of this is still a violation of federal law. These dispersed home-growing operations are a cause of concern. We don't produce or distribute any other medication in this manner. Unless the legality of marijuana is clarified, one way or the other, we will be left in this confusing legal twilight. [end]
What Has Been Learned in California Could Be Put to Use Here, Turning an Illegal Market into a Significant Industry, PORTLAND - My last marijuana adventure was in the back of a '64 Mustang full of teenagers, deep in a Louisiana cotton field -- and I was far more worried about my mother's wrath than about getting stoned. Claiming my experiment was "medicinal research" never occurred to me. And, yes, I did inhale just once, which just about killed me. To this day, I still much prefer beer, but my curiosity about medical marijuana led me to Berkeley, Calif., the industry mecca. Overdue a midlife crisis, I grew a ponytail to blend in with the cannabis managers, gave my favorite handyman a week to paint my condo, and headed west from Maine. [continues 644 words]
BIDDEFORD -- With a rise in abuse of prescription painkillers and crimes related to addiction, the Biddeford Police Department is being proactive in responding to the problem. Today, the manufacturer of one of the most abused and most powerful painkillers on the market hosted a training session for law enforcement officers at the Biddeford Police Department. The training included education about prescription drugs as well as tools and strategies about how to deal with prescription drug related crimes. In the past 13 months, there have been six robberies at pharmacies within the city for the powerful prescription painkiller OxyContin, said Biddeford Police Chief Roger Beaupre. Seventy-five reports of stolen prescription drugs have been made in the past two years, he said. [continues 613 words]
This is in response to the letter "An exclusionary practice" by Patricia Soderholm, printed Dec. 26. There have been problems in every one of the 15 states that have legalized medical cannabis (marijuana) for sick citizens, mostly because of government red tape. The best way to eliminate all that red tape is to completely legalize cannabis. Legalizing the relatively safe, extremely popular, God-given plant cannabis for all responsible adults would mean citizens who wish to use the plant for medical purposes would not need to navigate government requirements to pay extortion money to government for protection from police. It's obviously time to legalize cannabis and regulate it, like alcohol, because it is here for the duration of time. Stan White, Dillon, Colo. [end]
Maine Dispensary May Be 1st in East AUBURN, Maine - In the cavernous confines of a long-vacant store in a standard-issue shopping plaza, an earnest couple are cultivating plans for what could be the first dispensary for medical marijuana east of the Mississippi River. Called the Remedy Compassion Center and expected to open this spring, the dispensary is one of eight that state health officials will allow in Maine after Jan. 1. In its 10,000 square feet, set next to a craft store, the center will grow, harvest, and sell marijuana. [continues 807 words]
The Franklin Community Health Network prides itself "on providing the best care available anywhere, the kind of care we would want for ourselves and our families." Then why do they have an exclusionary practice to deny care to their patients? I am a licensed caregiver with the state of Maine, and I provide full-time care for a quadriplegic patient. This patient has an active, legal medical marijuana prescription dating back to 2003, and recently submitted paperwork to update the prescription in accordance with state law. [continues 194 words]
Pot Would Be Legal If the Laws Were Driven by Public Health Standards Instead of Culture. Regarding Mark Publicker's Maine Voices column, ("Medical marijuana act silent on potential risks," Nov. 29): If health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, marijuana would be legal. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. Marijuana can be harmful if abused, but jail cells are inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective as deterrents. [continues 140 words]
What is the difference between driving under the influence of marijuana and alcohol (letter, Dec. 9, "Medical marijuana users shouldn't be able to drive")? Do we really need to ask this? Driving while under the influence of marijuana is completely different from driving under the influence of alcohol. The state realizes this as well. Taking away someone's privilege to drive because they are prescribed medicinal marijuana seems foolish to me. Evan Nedik Augusta [end]
Practice offering alternatives thriving HALLOWELL - Dustin Sulak probably has the fastest growing medical practice in Maine. The osteopathic doctor, who's been licensed for just over a year, had 30 patients last fall. Now, he treats 1,300. On the wall of Sulak's examination room, next to his diplomas and state license, are framed certificates naming him a Reiki master and a clinical hypnotherapist. All patients, on their first visit, get a hands-on healing treatment from either Sulak or a nurse practitioner, he said between bites of quinoa, a grain-like seed that he ate from a mason jar. [continues 1710 words]
The people of this state recently passed the medical marijuana law. I am a little concerned about the ramifications of people who can legally smoke for their chronic pain and still maintain a driver's license. People with chronic pain would never pass a drug test. What if they have an accident and hurt someone while under the influence of a scheduled Z drug? What is the difference between that and someone under the influence of alcohol? I don't have a problem with the law, I just don't think that people thought it through, especially the state. Yes, you can have medical marijuana and still drive? Come on, something is wrong with this. Sheila Moody Madison [end]
Inside Maine
