Pubdate: Thu, 04 Nov 1999 Source: Associated Press Copyright: 1999 Associated Press MAINE FOLLOWS CONNECTICUTS LEAD ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA A law allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana for medical purposes has been on the books in Connecticut for 18 years and it has never been used. This week voters in Maine passed a similar referendum, and doctors say though different from Connecticut's law, it may also go unused. In Connecticut, doctors not only have no way to legally obtain marijuana but they also face the loss of their licenses to prescribe narcotics as a result of their possession and distribution of marijuana, which remain federal crimes. In addition, says Dr. Peter D. Byeff, an oncologist who heads the George Bray Cancer Center at New Britain General Hospital, medications have been developed and approved in recent years that prevent nausea and stimulate the appetite without psychological and legal risks of marijuana. While marijuana typically produces euphoria in younger users, it can have the opposite effect, creating reactions such as anxiety and sadness, in older patients, he said. Connecticut's law permitting physicians to dispense marijuana to patients requires that the doctors first obtain a license from the state Department of Consumer Protection's drug control and enforcement unit. Byeff, who has been an oncologist for 18 years, said he hasn't had a patient request marijuana in ''many, many years.'' ''I don't know where you would get it in Connecticut, either,'' Byeff told The Hartford Courant. ''If there's no mechanism for dispensing it, that doesn't help many of my patients. They're not going to go out and grow it in their backyards.'' In Maine, the first Eastern state to approve the medicinal use of marijuana by referendum, patients can do just that. Legislation already set up to take effect with the proposal's passage, permits a patient with AIDS, glaucoma, cancer, neurological seizures or severe muscle spasms to possess up to 1.2 ounces of marijuana for personal use and to cultivate up to six marijuana plants (but only three mature plants at a given time). But patients must first obtain written permission from their doctors, something that could jeopardize a doctor's federal license to prescribe narcotics. Another issue is whether Maine's ballot results and state law can insulate its citizens from prosecution on federal drug charges. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake