The April 21 editorial, "Bill to legalize marijuana just a waste of time," stated: "People don't smoke pot now because it is illegal, and that usage would skyrocket if the law changed."

The same day, the news also carried an article about Portland Democrat Rep. Diane Russell's introduction of marijuana legalization.

That reminded me of the fear-mongering in the movie "Reefer Madness." Back then, this same kind of rubbish was reported and led to the Marijuana Tax Act of 1938. Neither is close to the truth.

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An amended Maine bill has bipartisan support, but federal officials have yet to weigh in.

Mainers who use marijuana to ease symptoms of chronic medical conditions would no longer have to register with the state under a proposal that appears likely to be approved by the Legislature.

The Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee voted unanimously this week in favor of an amended version of L.D. 1296, which sought to deregulate Maine's medical marijuana program and protect the privacy of patients.

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Mainers who use marijuana to ease symptoms of chronic medical conditions would no longer have to register with the state under a proposal that appears likely to be approved by the Legislature.

The Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee voted unanimously this week in favor of an amended version of L.D. 1296, which sought to deregulate Maine's medical marijuana program and protect the privacy of patients.

No vote has been scheduled in the House or Senate, but the bipartisan support -- and the blessing of the LePage administration -- means the bill is almost certain to pass.

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The state should act on its own to end this wasteful burden on police and the courts.

I'm surprised at the editorial position of The Portland Press Herald on marijuana legislation ("Debate on marijuana belongs in federal arena," April 21). The fact of a present disconnect between state and federal laws involving marijuana isn't a basis for dismissing the importance of L.D. 1453. To the contrary, the fact that states across America have enacted various statutes authorizing the regulated use of marijuana is strong evidence that the national perspective is changing.

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In a rare show of cooperation during a generally divisive legislative session, lawmakers on the Health and Human Services Committee on Tuesday unanimously endorsed a proposal to expand access to marijuana under the state's medical marijuana program.

A second bill that seeks to legalize and tax marijuana in Maine was voted down in a divided decision by the Criminal Justice Committee, but the issue promises to resurface in the future.

The first measure, LD 1296, would make registration with the state voluntary for patients who wish to use marijuana under the supervision and support of their physician, a measure intended to protect the privacy of patients, according to bill sponsor Rep. Deborah Sanderson, R-Chelsea.

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The Maine Debate this week centers on a drug that has been demonized and celebrated: marijuana. Join our online discussion on the Opinion page of bangordailynews.com. Editorial Page Editor Susan Young and Assistant Editorial Page Editor Tom Groening will be moderating the discussion and chiming in with comments and questions between 10 a.m. and noon Tuesday, May 10, though readers are encouraged to engage on the question before and after that time. Rep. Diane Russell, D-Portland, who has proposed legalization of marijuana, also will participate in the discussion Tuesday morning.

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Given the ease with which Mainers can get new laws proposed via the referendum process, it's just a matter of time before the state debates and then votes on a proposal to legalize marijuana for recreational use by adults.

If the vote were taken this year or next, it's a safe bet that legalization would be defeated. Exhibit A in that prediction is the defeat last year in California of a ballot measure that would have legalized the drug. But with each passing year, there are more voting age adults who see marijuana as a relatively harmless substance. Someday in the near future, that will translate into a voting majority.

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At 1 p.m. Tuesday, May 10, supporters of legalized marijuana in Maine will crowd into a hearing room in Augusta to support a Portland legislator's bill to decriminalize pot.

Rep. Diane Russell, D-Portland, sponsor of LD 1453, "An Act To Legalize and Tax Marijuana," said she was thrilled to learn yesterday about the hearing that has been scheduled before the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee. The hearing will be in Room 436 at the State House.

"It looks like I have a May 10 public hearing," Russell exclaimed.

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Thank you for the front page story, "Portland representative wants to legalize pot" (BDN, April 21), describing the latest meddling politicians drug pushing promotion. From their point of view, it sounds like a good idea, but it doesn't tell the other side of the story.

Legalizing marijuana will give us more of the same devastating problems we have experienced with tobacco.

And, is tobacco really legal? It is illegal to poison anyone with defective toxic products.

Ray Perkins Jr.

Waldoboro

[end]

PORTLAND - Imagine walking into a neighborhood store to buy beer, wine, liquor and cigarettes. But on your way home you make one more stop to buy marijuana, legally.

That's the vision Rep. Diane Russell, D-Portland, will outline at a press conference on Wednesday at Portland City Hall, when she introduces LD 1453: An Act to Legalize and Tax Marijuana.

The bill would legalize and regulate marijuana much the same way the state regulates the alcohol and tobacco industries. It would allow adults over 21 to cultivate, possess, purchase and use marijuana within certain limits.

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FARMINGTON -- It's time to legalize, regulate and tax marijuana in Maine, according to most panel members at Monday's marijuana forum at the University of Maine.

"We need a change on the war on drugs," Rep. Lance Harvell, R-Farmington, said. "We need to recognize this war is lost."

Prohibition or attacking the supply but not dealing with demand won't win the war, he said.

To end the war, state Rep. Diane Russell, D-Portland, said she is co-sponsoring a soon-to-be-filed bill in the Legislature. The proposal would decriminalize marijuana use and growth, she told panelists and nearly 100 audience members.

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FARMINGTON -- About 50 people attended a forum on the legality of marijuana Monday at the University of Maine at Farmington.

The six panelists from the Maine House, law enforcement agencies and a drug legalization advocacy group touched on everything from medical marijuana laws to state's rights.

Eric Friberg, who described himself as a medical marijuana advocate from South Portland, said he was surprised by the views of the panelists.

"It's the first one-sided panel I've seen in favor of cannabis, usually it's the opposite," said Friburg, 40.

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FARMINGTON - A forum on current and proposed marijuana legislation and its consequences will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 4, in the North Dining Hall of Olsen Student Center at the University of Maine.

Maine lawmakers, police officers and attorneys will discuss and debate whether Maine's current marijuana laws are too harsh, too lenient or just right.

Maine's recent citizens' referendum made medical marijuana legal. Now some lawmakers in Augusta are proposing decriminalizing other marijuana growing and possession laws. All of these efforts are occurring in the face of federal statutes that prohibit the growing and use of marijuana.

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AUGUSTA -- Two bills to broaden the decriminalization of marijuana in Maine got bipartisan support from lawmakers testifying at public hearings Thursday, but were opposed by law enforcement officials.

One measure, L.D. 754, would double the amount of usable marijuana that individuals could possess and still have it treated as a civil, rather than criminal, offense. The other, L.D. 750, would decriminalize possession of up to six marijuana plants.

"It is my fundamental belief that people who use marijuana for personal use on a recreational basis are not criminals," said state Rep. Ben Chipman, an independent from Portland, to lawmakers on the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee.

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AUGUSTA, Maine -- Maine would have some of the nation's most relaxed laws when it comes to marijuana possession if a Portland lawmaker's efforts gain any traction in Augusta.

Rep. Ben Chipman, I-Portland, on Thursday introduced LD 754, which would decriminalize possession of up to five ounces of marijuana, and LD 750, which would allow people to have up to six marijuana plants without facing criminal penalties.

"It is my fundamental belief that people who use marijuana for personal use on a recreational basis are not criminals," Chipman told members of the Legislature's Criminal Justice Committee.

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If all goes as planned, the Rhode Island Department of Health will announce Tuesday who has been selected to open dispensaries that will legally sell marijuana to patients who have been certified by doctors as needing the drug to help cope with debilitating pain or disease.

But even if the groups proposing dispensaries go on a fast track to build facilities and start growing product, Rhode Island will not be the first state in New England to open such businesses.

By the end of this month, one state-regulated dispensary will open in Frenchville, Maine, on the Canadian border, according to John Thiele, program manager for Maine's Medical Use of Marijuana Program. It will be the first on the East Coast.

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Mainers Want to Offer Suffering People Pain Relief, but Recreational Use Is a Different Issue.

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., visited Maine last week, where he addressed about 100 people at an "expo" for legal cannabis growers in support of approving marijuana for recreational use.

In a story headlined, "Cannabis battle is winnable, expo told," Frank was quoted as saying, "People who make a personal decision to smoke marijuana should not be subject to prosecution. This is the kind of fight that's worth winning. It's winnable."

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U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass. told the state's first Maine Medical Marijuana Expo on Saturday that current laws against marijuana use are expensive, are applied unevenly and ought to be repealed.

"People who make a personal decision to smoke marijuana should not be subject to prosecution," said Frank, noting that the movement has allies in the libertarian wing of the Republican Party. "This is the kind of fight that's worth making. It's winnable."

The message was well received by an enthusiastic audience of about 100 people, including many vendors set up for the day-long exposition at the Fireside Inn & Suites on Riverside Street.

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FORT KENT, Maine - Safe Alternatives, Aroostook County's first state-approved medical marijuana growing facility, is up and running in Frenchville with a contact list of close to a dozen people with conditions ranging from terminal cancer to multiple sclerosis requesting the herbal drug.

What is lacking, according to Leo Trudel, the business's co-founders and spokesman, is a municipally approved dispensary for their product.

Since August, Trudel, a business professor at the University of Maine at Fort Kent, has been working with Frenchville municipal officials to open a medical marijuana dispensary on property he currently owns in that town.

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Rep. Barney Frank Stokes Optimism at a Fair Focusing on the State's Medical Marijuana Community.

PORTLAND - U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass. told the state's first Maine Medical Marijuana Expo on Saturday that current laws against marijuana use are expensive, applied unevenly and ought to be repealed.

"People who make a personal decision to smoke marijuana should not be subject to prosecution," said Frank, noting that the movement has allies in the libertarian wing of the Republican Party. "This is the kind of fight that's worth making. It's winnable."

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