Pubdate: Sat, 02 Jun 2001 Source: Portland Press Herald (ME) Copyright: 2001 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. Contact: http://www.portland.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/744 Author: Associated Press Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) MAN GETS $200 FINE FOR GROWING MEDICAL MARIJUANA FARMINGTON - A New Vineyard man who said he used marijuana to ease the painful symptoms of muscular dystrophy pleaded no contest and was fined $200 in Franklin County Superior Court. Leonard Ellis, 63, was arrested last summer after officers seized 83 marijuana plants, along with some processed marijuana, from his property. Ellis, who smokes about five marijuana cigarettes a day, admitted he had more marijuana than allowed under Maine's medical marijuana law. He said he planted a great deal of marijuana because he wanted to store some of it for the day when he was too sick to grow it. He said it's too expensive to buy. More than 60 percent of Maine voters approved the medical marijuana initiative, which was designed to provide people with specific chronic illnesses such as AIDS and cancer some relief from their pain. Justice Kirk Studstrup acknowledged that a majority of Mainers voted for the medical marijuana law. "But (I doubt) whether 60 percent of the voters would have voted in favor of it if there had been no limit on the amount a person can have," the judge said Thursday at the sentencing. The Medicinal Marijuana Act allows patients suffering from certain diseases to possess six plants, of which no more than three may be mature, flowering plants. Patients may also have 1 ounce of harvested marijuana, if patients have a doctor's note recommending its use. In addition to 83 plants, police said they found three coffee cans of harvested marijuana, 43 cigarettes, a Baggie and a glass container at Ellis' home. Ellis' lawyer, David Sanders of Livermore Falls, said the statute is a "cruel hoax" because it is impossible for someone following the guidelines to have enough supply on hand for a patient like Ellis. Ellis, who lives on Social Security, told Studstrup he knows he broke the law but said he used the marijuana for medical purposes. "When I use pot, it's wonderful to be able to wake up in the morning and feel refreshed from a good night's sleep and to be able to function," he said. But Assistant District Attorney Andrew Robinson reminded Studstrup that witnesses last week testified that they had seen Ellis smoking pot at social gatherings and at card games. After his arrest, Ellis switched to traditional painkillers but he is now growing marijuana again. By pleading no contest, he did not admit to the misdemeanor cultivation charge but he agreed not to fight it. A no contest plea is treated the same way as a guilty plea. - --- MAP posted-by: GD