Pubdate: Fri, 14 Jun 2013
Source: Morning Sentinel (Waterville, ME)
Copyright: 2013 MaineToday Media, Inc.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/tLMIEnz1
Website: http://www.onlinesentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1474
Author: Michael Shepherd

MAINE LAWMAKERS OK SOME PESTICIDE USE ON MEDICAL POT

AUGUSTA - Medical marijuana dispensaries would be allowed to treat 
plants with certain low-risk pesticides if a bill enacted by the 
Maine Legislature on Friday makes it into law.

The bill, L.D. 1531, an emergency measure sponsored by Sen. Thomas 
Saviello, R-Wilton, a former chairman of the Maine Board of 
Pesticides Control, passed the House of Representatives without a 
roll-call vote on Friday. The Senate passed it on Thursday.

It would take effect as soon as Gov. Paul LePage, whose 
administration supports the bill, signs it.

Saviello's bill would narrow currently broad Department of Health and 
Human Services rules that haven't allowed dispensaries to treat 
marijuana plants with any pesticide, even a natural substance such as 
vegetable oil.

"Having anything in your arsenal is better than having nothing," said 
Glenn Peterson, owner of Canuvo, a dispensary in Biddeford. "It's a 
good thing."

The department supports the bill, even though the loophole came into 
play publicly after its March investigation of the Wellness 
Connection of Maine, the nonprofit operator of four of Maine's eight 
dispensaries, in Portland, Hallowell, Thomaston and Brewer.

That investigation found 20 violations of state law and program rules 
at Wellness Connection, from pesticide use to security breaches to a 
managerial conflict of interest.

The state said nine types of pesticides were used at the group's 
Auburn cultivation site, violating medical-marijuana program rules 
that say no pesticides are allowed.

However, Kenneth Albert, director of the DHHS' Division of Licensing 
and Regulatory Services, which oversees the program, allowed 
marijuana treated with pesticides to be sold, as the pesticides were 
substances anyone can apply to virtually all plants.

The Portland Press Herald, after requesting an analysis of the 
pesticides from the Maine Board of Pesticides Control, reported five 
of the nine pesticides the group was cited for contain active 
ingredients that are safe for many uses and federally approved for 
use on tobacco.

On Friday, Albert said the department supports the bill because it 
will help medical patients gain access to marijuana from 
state-regulated dispensaries.

"That particular crop is challenging to grow without pesticides," he said.

Substances allowed under the bill will be determined, in part, by a 
list of more than 30 active ingredients exempt from regulation under 
the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act because they 
are deemed virtually harmless, including sesame oil, soybean oil and 
peppermint oil.

However, Albert said, under the bill the pesticide also must be 
registered for use in Maine and its label must indicate that it can 
be used on all plants. If the substance is used on marijuana plants 
that will be turned into products that will be eaten, the pesticide 
will face more scrutiny, he said.

Paul McCarrier, a lobbyist for Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine, 
a frequent Wellness Connection critic, called the bill the 
dispensaries' "flagship piece of legislation" this session.

His group, which represents small-scale medical-marijuana growers, 
didn't take a position on the bill.

He said while most small-time growers don't use pesticides on plants, 
dispensaries need a way to treat plants so pests, such as spider 
mites, don't infest large growing areas. Wellness Connection served 
about 2,400 patients in March, according to state figures.

"I don't think it's very controversial," McCarrier said of the bill.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom