BANGOR, Maine - A local group of medical marijuana patients is renting a space downtown where they can smoke or ingest their medicine. A group calling itself the 13 Owls Club is renting on an hourly basis the VIP smoking area above the recently expanded hookah lounge run by the Herbal Tea & Tobacco shop in the heart of the city, Herbal Tea owner Christopher Ruhlin said during a recent interview. "We have doctors, lawyers and architects, and these people depend on a discreet, professional environment," said Ruhlin, adding that he is a medical marijuana patient advocate and a member of the club. [continues 1048 words]
BANGOR - A local group of medical marijuana patients is renting a space downtown where they can smoke or ingest their medicine. A group calling itself the 13 Owls Club is renting on an hourly basis the VIP smoking area above the recently expanded hookah lounge run by the Herbal Tea & Tobacco shop in the heart of the city, Herbal Tea owner Christopher Ruhlin said during a recent interview. "We have doctors, lawyers and architects, and these people depend on a discreet, professional environment," said Ruhlin, adding that he is a medical marijuana patient advocate and a member of the club. [continues 1048 words]
Last week saw the launch of a second initiative to put a question on the 2016 Maine ballot to legalize recreational marijuana. This effort would run alongside the stated intent of the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project to gather signatures and also put a question on the 2016 ballot. Some media outlets are framing this as Mainers having two choices for legalizing marijuana in Maine. But the truth of the matter is they will have three choices on how marijuana policy moves forward in Maine. A third choice will be to reject marijuana legalization of both varieties and move forward with a public health-oriented approach that doesn't create a third legalized drug. [continues 613 words]
South Portland, Maine (AP) - Marijuana advocates want to finally take their legalization drive - so far the province of Western states - to the Northeast, and they say the first state to do it here might be Maine. The Pine Tree State has a long history with cannabis - Maine voters approved medical marijuana legalization 15 years ago, becoming the first New England state to do so. Now, national marijuana advocates say, the state represents a chance for pro-marijuana forces to get a toehold in the Northeastern states they have long coveted. [continues 539 words]
AUGUSTA, MAINE (AP) - A group that wants to legalize recreational marijuana is beginning its push to put the measure before Maine voters in 2016. Legalize Maine, a newly formed political action committee, is calling its plan "a home-grown effort" to legalize marijuana in Maine. The group's organizer, Paul McCarrier, said Wednesday that its proposal can help revive Maine's economy. McCarrier's group wants to tax marijuana at 8 percent, the same as prepared food, lodging, and liquor. It also wants to create marijuana social clubs. The effort is separate from another push to legalize marijuana in the state. [end]
Supports Enforcing Laws Over Treatment Options LEWISTON, Maine - When Massachusetts' governor invited his New England counterparts to a meeting last month on the surge in opioid overdoses, the only no-show was Governor Paul LePage of Maine. Governor Deval Patrick urged reporters after the meeting not to read anything into LePage's absence. It's just a scheduling problem, he said. But LePage's press secretary, Adrienne Bennett, had a different take: The governor felt staying in Maine to talk with veterans and release crime statistics was "a higher priority than a photo-op with other New England governors," Bennett said. [continues 1240 words]
Imagine this: Two defendants, same age, smoke joints with some friends one July evening in their apartments. Neither has a criminal record. Both get caught; one faces an extra two years in jail. Why? Because he shared drugs within a certain number of feet from a school that's been out for a month. The so-called "Drug Free School Zone" is one of many laws that create extra penalties for already illegal acts with no reasonable tie to the public's safety or the defendant's particular circumstances. [continues 775 words]
L.D. 1739, "An Act To Amend the Maine Medical Use of Marijuana Act," was returned to the Legislature's Committee on Health and Human Services on Feb. 11, after parents and patients expressed concern with the language about "kief" as well as other concerns. I know our legislators in Maine's House and Senate have no ill intent toward our children, but they are being misled. This committee has completed its review. Committee members report that the proposal now references Maine's Criminal Code in regard to "hashish," and now directly prohibits the use of hashish. By the referenced Maine Criminal Law Code, hashish is defined to include marijuana extracts. With the change of words from "kief" to "hashish," and this reference to Maine's Criminal Code, the law effectively bans my daughter's medication. [continues 179 words]
Last week, the media reported about the precipitous and unexpected decline of MaineCare patients receiving prescription opiates for pain management (Bangor Daily News, Feb. 27). As an operator of Canuvo, in Biddeford, one of the eight dispensaries participating in the Maine Medical Use of Marijuana Program, and as president of the Maine Association of Dispensary Operators, I believe there is another piece to this story. A great many of the patients benefiting from medical cannabis are enrolled in MaineCare. Even though MaineCare doesn't cover the cost of this medicine, many of these patients come to us seeking an alternative to the prescription opiates they've used for pain. [continues 115 words]
The Democratic Senate Candidate Has Been a Supporter of Legalization WASHINGTON - Shenna Bellows, the Maine Democrat challenging Republican Sen. Susan Collins in this November's election, received endorsements on Wednesday from two organizations pushing to legalize marijuana at the state and federal levels. Bellows, who supports legalization and regulating marijuana more like alcohol, received the endorsements from the political action committees of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) as well as the Marijuana Policy Project. A bill has been introduced in the current Congress to legalize marijuana but is unlikely to pass. [continues 107 words]
Inside Maine
