AUGUSTA -- A financing agreement has been finalized between the holder of half of Maine's medical marijuana dispensary licenses and a former professional basketball player. The $2 million agreement between Northeast Patients Group and an organization led by former NBA player Cuttino Mobley comes as Northeast faces a lawsuit from its former California-based backer. The litigation and the deal with Mobley that sparked it have big implications for Maine's fledgling medical marijuana industry: Northeast holds exclusive state licenses to operate dispensaries in Maine's most populous markets: Portland, Kennebec County and the Bangor area, as well as Thomaston. [continues 1229 words]
Driving While Impaired Is a Crime, but How About Driving While Being Medicated? Recent court cases involving deaths allegedly caused by people driving under the influence of marijuana have led to a heightened awareness of the issue, which some sources have linked to the increasing acceptance of medical marijuana. In one of the cases, a California driver pleaded guilty to manslaughter, while another driver there was found not guilty of that charge because the effects of the drug found in his system couldn't be proved in court. [continues 371 words]
Recent court cases involving deaths allegedly caused by people driving under the influence of marijuana have led to a heightened awareness about the issue, which some sources have linked to the increasing acceptance of medical marijuana. In one of the cases, a California driver pleaded guilty to manslaughter, while another driver there was found not guilty of that charge because the effects of the drug found in his system couldn't be proved in court. In alcohol-related offenses, a legal blood-alcohol standard says that any adult with more than 0.08 percent is legally drunk (lower standards apply to minors in some states). To determine that, officers can apply tests to drivers stopped on suspicion of OUI. Come up with an 0.08 level or higher and you're busted, period. [continues 309 words]
Northeast Patients Group, which holds permits to open medical marijuana dispensaries in Portland, Bangor and elsewhere in Maine, is being sued by its former financial backer in California. In court filings, Berkeley Patients Group alleges Augusta-based Northeast Patients Group failed to pay back more than $630,000 in loans used for salaries and start-up funds during the successful 2010 permitting process. Northeast's chief executive Becky DeKeuster is also named in the lawsuit, which was filed July 6 in Cumberland County Superior Court. DeKeuster, who severed ties with Berkeley in February, is accused of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and disclosing trade secrets to a competitor. She declined to be interviewed yesterday. [continues 744 words]
Berkeley Patients Group, a California medical marijuana dispensary operator, is suing the executive director of Augusta-based Northeast Patients Group for allegedly breaching her employment contract by failing to disclose negotiations with another financial backer. The lawsuit against Rebecca DeKeuster and Northeast Patients Group was filed on July 6 in Cumberland County Superior Court and seeks repayment of $632,195 in loans. It also asks that the court order DeKeuster, of Augusta, to end her association with Northeast Patients Group. The suit alleges that DeKeuster, while being paid by Berkeley, used confidential information to strike a deal with a new financial backer, and didn't tell the California group about those talks. [continues 297 words]
A high-powered international commission has declared the war on drugs a failure. It urges governments to consider decriminalizing the use of drugs, especially marijuana, as a way to combat organized crime. The report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy, issued on June 2, attracted little attention and may simply gather dust like other such documents. But it is worth considering, not least because two of the panel's outspoken members are former Secretary of State George P. Shultz and the eminent economist Paul A. Volcker, who after serving as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, continues as a one-man watch dog on banking and speculation policy. [continues 339 words]
Sensible Portland, the group behind a citizen-petition to make marijuana enforcement the lowest priority for city police, says it has gathered enough signatures to put the initiative on the November ballot. In a Monument Square press conference yesterday, the group's leadership said they are hoping the proposal will spur "an adult conversation" about marijuana policy that could spread well beyond city limits. "To be clear, we hope that this measure is a step toward the eventual end of prohibition of marijuana in this country," said John Eder, a spokesman for Sensible Portland and a former Green Party state representative. "This local ordinance isn't a small thing. [continues 759 words]
Program Seen As a Model for Other States AUBURN, Maine - The first thing that jumps out at a visitor to the Remedy Compassion Center is how neat and clean it is. The walls are an immaculate blue from floor to ceiling, and the freshly carpeted main room is vast and almost empty. The second thing one notices is the distinctly herby, faint odor of fresh-cut marijuana. The center is, after all, a medical marijuana dispensary and, given the controversial nature of the treatment - or business - being conducted here, the impression of spotlessness is no accident. [continues 873 words]
More news and wrangling about marijuana and growers, who is, who isn't. Still, it's the American profit motive at work. Everyone wants to grow marijuana for money, and lots of both. Who wouldn't want to get rich? The news is that someone else wants a piece of the pie and didn't get selected. The business models and profit motives could be more of a problem than marijuana. Look what the tobacco companies did with cigarettes. If you think the state is any better, look at how it markets lottery tickets. Sure, play responsibly, and cigarettes aren't addictive. Tobacco companies want kids to think smoking is "cool," and the state wants you to think "you're a winner." [continues 191 words]
With some amusement, I read a story in Tuesdays Sun regarding a group called "Sensible Portland" which is seeking to have a blind eye toward marijuana possession attitude codified into Portland statutes. First off, we haven't got the MEDICAL marijuana thing straightened out yet. The alleged clinic for Cumberland County shows no signs of opening. They now promise to open "Late Spring," according to their website. (I'm referring to it as "alleged" for a simple reason. The "FOR RENT" sign is still up in the location chosen, despite this city passing "emergency" zoning approval in June of LAST YEAR.) [continues 759 words]
Medical Marijuana Is Both Legal and Illegal, Depending on Which Official You Ask. It's good that U.S. Attorney Thomas Delahanty wanted to clarify his position when it comes to state and federal laws regarding medical marijuana. Imagine the confusion if he had wanted to muddy things up. In response to Maine lawmakers who are seeking to amend the state's medical marijuana program, Delahanty wrote that although all use of marijuana is illegal under federal law, the U.S. Department of Justice would not spend its limited resources to prosecute sick people who are using the drug under a doctor's supervision. [continues 326 words]
It's good that U.S. Attorney Thomas Delahanty wanted to clarify his position when it comes to state and federal laws regarding medical marijuana. Imagine the confusion if he had wanted to muddy the waters. In response to Maine lawmakers who are seeking to amend the state's medical marijuana program, Delahanty wrote that although all use of marijuana is illegal under federal law, the U.S. Department of Justice would not spend its limited resources to prosecute sick people who use the drug under a doctor's supervision. [continues 326 words]
Maine has finally legalized marijuana for medical purposes but not without complications that weren't intended when it was voted upon. There is a lot of confusion for the young and especially the elderly who voted for it and use it. Lawmakers in Augusta, who have absolutely no medical knowledge or even any type of schooling in medicine, are the ones who are calling the shots and making the rules, which is totally unacceptable. Doctors and pharmacists ought to be the ones who decide who would benefit from it or who can possess it, not Department of Human Services. [continues 163 words]
Many medicines come with side effects, but few can compare with medical marijuana's: What other drug, when used as directed, could land you in jail? That's because even though 16 states, including Maine, have legalized the use of marijuana in some applications, the federal government still considers it to be illegal under any circumstance. To confuse matters even more, the U.S. Department of Justice has sent mixed signals about how it views use of the drug. Early in his tenure, Attorney General Eric Holder gave states reassurance that his prosecutors would not go after medicinal users of marijuana. But recently, some U.S. attorneys, including one in Rhode Island, have announced that they would not look the other way at the establishment of legal marijuana growing and selling businesses, even if they were regulated by the state. [continues 253 words]
The U.S. Attorney Has Concerns About Plans to Amend Maine's Medical Marijuana Law and Says Prosecutions Are Possible. Maine's U.S. attorney has told state lawmakers that Maine's medical marijuana law contradicts federal law, and that the U.S. Department of Justice reserves the right to prosecute Mainers who cultivate and distribute the drug, even if they have state approval. U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty sent a letter, dated Monday, in response to a request from the Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee, which recently endorsed changes to the Maine Medical Marijuana Act. [continues 660 words]
Legalization advocate Christopher Sirois charged after bust in Industry Tuesday INDUSTRY -- A drug bust Tuesday afternoon in Industry shows how drug enforcement agents are struggling to enforce Maine's medical marijuana laws. Maine drug enforcement agents found 200 marijuana plants during a raid of an Industry residence Tuesday afternoon, according to Gerry Baril, MDEA supervisor for western Maine. The problem, however, is that it's unclear what charges should be filed, and against whom, because a woman living in the residence is a medical marijuana patient, Baril said. [continues 990 words]
Maine's U.S. attorney has told state lawmakers that Maine's medical marijuana law contradicts federal law, and that the U.S. Department of Justice reserves the right to prosecute Mainers who cultivate and distribute the drug, even if they have state approval. U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty sent a letter, dated Monday, in response to a request from the Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee, which recently endorsed changes to the Maine Medical Marijuana Act. Committee members met briefly with Maine Attorney General William Schneider on Wednesday afternoon to discuss legal issues. They are expected to move forward with the amendments. [continues 635 words]
The difference between state and federal law creates legal jeopardy for innocent people. Many medicines come with side effects, but few can compare with medical marijuana's: What other drug, when used as directed, could land you in jail? That's because even though 16 states including Maine have legalized the use of marijuana in some applications, the federal government still considers it to be illegal under any circumstance. To confuse matters even more, the U.S. Department of Justice has sent mixed signals on how it views use of the drug. Early in his tenure, Attorney General Eric Holder gave states reassurance that his prosecutors would not go after medicinal users. But recently, some U.S. attorneys, including one in Rhode Island, have announced that they would not look the other way at the establishment of legal pot growing and selling businesses, even if they were regulated by the state. [continues 249 words]
GARDINER -- A young veteran has organized a cooperative of medical marijuana growers and patients, saying clients have dubbed him "a pioneer" of Maine's budding new industry. Robert Rosso, 25, of Gardiner, and other local growers have organized Kennebec Healing, a business that delivers hydroponic marijuana grown in three locations to 14 patients from Waterville to Windham. "Some of my higher-class patients tell me, 'You're blazing the trails for medical marijuana'," he said. "I've had people call me a pioneer." [continues 1744 words]
GARDINER -- A young veteran has organized a cooperative of medical marijuana growers and patients, saying clients have dubbed him "a pioneer" of Maine's budding new industry. Robert Rosso, 25, of Gardiner, and other local growers have organized Kennebec Healing, a business that delivers hydroponic marijuana grown in three locations to 14 patients from Waterville to Windham. "Some of my higher-class patients tell me, 'You're blazing the trails for medical marijuana'," he said. "I've had people call me a pioneer." [continues 1745 words]
Inside Maine
