Pubdate: Tue, 14 Apr 2009
Source: Bangor Daily News (ME)
Copyright: 2009 Bangor Daily News Inc.
Contact:  http://www.bangornews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/40
Author: Mal Leary

MEDICAL POT ISSUE LIKELY HEADED TO VOTERS

AUGUSTA, Maine - Maine's current law that allows use of marijuana for
medical purposes isn't working, said leaders of a petition effort to
allow state-licensed facilities to sell the drug.

"The way it is now is patients have to make their own determination
how they are going to access their medicine," said Jonathan Leavitt of
Maine Citizens for Patient Rights, the group that organized the
petition drive. "There is essentially no legal way to buy it." The
proposed law would direct the Maine Department of Health and Human
Services to issue identification cards to qualifying patients. It
would also allow nonprofit dispensaries licensed by the agency to
provide marijuana to those patients.

Mainers in 1999 overwhelmingly approved the existing law to allow
residents to possess marijuana for medical use with a doctor's
recommendation. Patients are allowed to keep up to 2 1/2 ounces of
marijuana and up to six marijuana plants.

"The reality is that patients are not equipped to do that," Leavitt
told the Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee. "And
landlords and people that own property are hesitant because of the law
enforcement issues to allow that. So essentially, people access it
through the black market."

If lawmakers don't enact the bill, the proposal automatically goes to
a statewide vote because supporters collected more than the 55,087
signatures needed to put it on the November ballot. All told, the
proposal's supporters collected 80,000 signatures, Leavitt said.

At Monday's hearing, the measure was opposed by several in the law
enforcement and medical fields. "This legislation would allow
storefront marijuana businesses to possess, cultivate and sell
marijuana for medical purposes under the appearance it is regulated
similar to the controlled substances that are dispensed at a
pharmacy," said Roy McKinney, director of the Maine Drug Enforcement
Agency. "Nothing could be further from the truth."

McKinney said storefront shops in California have led to increased
crime in the neighborhoods and an increase in other illegal drug
trafficking. He said complicating the issue is that federal law
considers the drug illegal, and it would take a federal court decision
or an act of Congress to change that.

But Leavitt said the idea is more politically palatable now, thanks to
federal prosecutors' new reluctance to override state marijuana laws.

He cited U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's announcement of a change
from the Bush administration's policy, which outlawed cultivating,
using and selling marijuana for medical purposes despite state laws
permitting it.

"I think we addressed some of the concerns, primarily whether the
federal government was going to continue to interfere," Leavitt said
after the hearing.

Charles Wynott of Westbrook told lawmakers that, as a patient of
HIV-AIDS, medical marijuana has increased his ability to function on a
daily basis.

"It's important for you to understand how important this is to a lot
of people who are not here today," he said.

But some medical professionals doubted the effectiveness of the
drug.

Several opponents said the legislation specifically states certain
medical conditions for which marijuana can be used, but medical
studies show use of the drug could hurt the individual, not help them.
For example, the proposed law lists hepatitis C as a qualifying
condition, but studies show the use of the drug may worsen the health
of a person with that condition. Dr. Mark Publicker, medical director
of the Mercy Hospital Recovery Center, said marijuana is not "a benign
herb" and poses significant medical risks for users.

"There is a great deal of literature to demonstrate that it carries
with it a tremendous psychiatric risk," he said. "There are number of
studies that demonstrate a six-to sevenfold increase in the risk of
schizophrenia in 17- and 18-year-olds smoking cannabis on a daily basis."

Committee members said it's likely the measure will go to the
Legislature with a recommendation it go to the voters to decide.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake