Have them give up their drivers license so we don't have to worry about drug DUI's. Strict enforcement of point of sale, Life time ban if found selling to people with out a Dr.'s order and no doctor shopping. Employers right to terminate employee's if "drug" is effecting abbility to do job. With some safe guards in place it might work. But what I saw on a show about the shops in CA. It will be an interesting ride.

Cannabis is one of the least toxic "drugs" known to man. Aspirin, alcohol, nicotine, and Vicodin kill people dead.

Name ONE person who died from a cannabis overdose...

Hey Lawdisorder, all I heard from you was..............Shut Up !

Legalize it across the board. The state has no compelling interest in persecuting its citizens because of systematic misinformation. The state is no one's parent. Adults should be able to do what they choose to do without interference from the state. Treat it like alcohol......if one commits a crime under the influence, then hold them accountable. Simple, really

Or, as Barney Frank put it: "In a free society a large degree of human activity is none of the

governments business. We should make criminal what's going to hurt

other people and other then that we should leave it to people to make

their own choices"

It's going to be funny when a pro-dope president is no longer in the white house and the FED drops the hammer on the stoners around this state. Regardless of what ever pro-marijuana laws are voted in by the druggies of this state you can't escape the fed...not for ever.

Lawdisorder- I would be far more concerned about a person driving after having a glass of wine, bottle of beer, benadryl, cough medicine, etc... before I would be concerned about a person driving after smoking a little weed to help them with their cronic pain. Not to mention people talking/texting on call phones is far more dangerous, I actually almost got hit tonight on my way home from work by a lady on her phone while driving her lexus SUV and not paying attention to the vehicles around her.

This is not a referenda question on being legal, it already is. It's about distribution of a drug with consistant purity to be effective. That network is already in place called Pharmacy.

Overdoses of the drugs listed can be fatal. However, the measured toxicity of Aspirin and alcohol is less than that of THC, the active ingredient in Cannabis (no contest with nicotine which is very toxic). Cannabis is about as toxic as acetaminophen. The reason it's difficult to get a fatal dose of Cannabis is that it's so insoluble in water that about the only way to get a fatal dose is by injection. Apparently, smokers get so stoned they can't OD. Cannabis does have significant non-fatal adverse effects especially neurologic. Also, it's cummulative (it builds up in the body through continued use) unlike the other drugs mentioned.

It's too bad that medical uses aren't being done by injection of the active ingredient (although that would be easier to get a toxic dose) instead of the filthy process of smoking. Smoking anything can't be very healthy and who knows what else is in the smoke of a joint.

Even though the authoirites say the new policy would be hard to enforce, the existing policies are being abused anyway by those not using for medical purposes. I'd be in favor of the proposed polices for medical use, both federal and state. Abusers, don't blow it for those that NEED it.

Totally fed up with the same old rhetoric from the crew cut adorned DEA troglodytes. Every time this issue comes up, out come the drug officials with the rant of, "it will lead to harder drugs, it will destroy the neighborhoods, it will lead to more illicit drug traffic and blah blah blah. I say, in the decades we have been fighting this drug, throwing billions of dollars at trying to control it, will we ever learn? Prohibition didn't work. So, we legalized booze. Did the nation turn into a bunch of drunks? No. On an aside, marijuana, it seems, has a medical use. That is to say, it can be used to improve the quality of life for people with certain afflictions. Can the same be said for alcohol? I say we have spent way too much money fighting a problem that in reality is not even a problem. It appears to me that the majority of the people propagating all the negative press on the terrible effects of marijuana are the ones that are out cracking the heads of the guy with a joint in his pocket or selling dime bags. What will all these officers on their ego trips do should pot ever become legal? Keep it illegal and keep throwing money at trying to control it. The drug police will thank you from the bottom of their pensions. Peace all

Barney Frank ran a male prostitution ring out of his Washington apartment. I don't look to Barney Frank for wisdom...

Sorry..to dazed to read all those comments and I was reaching for the Doritos.

Its about time for maine to wake up and do the right thing. smoke one and mellow out

Alcohol is a lot worse than marijuana, yet its legal. You know what causes more drug use and deviant behavior than alcohol and marijuana???

BAD PARENTING. Jeez, if people want to smoke let them smoke. If they want to drink let them drink. If they drive or commit a crime bust them, otherwise leave them alone.

Whether or not its legal or illegal, people will do what the want for the most part, prohibition taught us this.

Ya, OK Lawdouchorder, and while you're at it, do the same with alcohol. So we don't haev to worry about drunk DUI's any more. Strict enforcment of point of sale, life time ban if found selling to people younger than 21 and be photographed every time you buy booze. Get educated, nummah.

The history of marijuana control is long on politics and short on science. Surely people who are too ill to cultivate their own plants should have a safe, clean supply available for purchase -- how dreadful to be sick, and forced to place one's trust in the black market for medicinal relief...

There are a lot of outright lies out there about Marijuana. The US government already holds the patent on marijuana, US patent number 6630507, issued 10/07/03 Read it. It's enlightening. They say one thing out of one side of their mouth, and a totally different line in the patent. Just google "U.S. Patent No. 6630507." Between the alcohol companies, the pharmaceutical companies and the plastics & petroleum industry, they've been spending MILLIONS lobbying annually to keep it illegal. Follow the money. It always leads to lies.

Alcohol companies: might cause less consumption of alcohol if marijuana was legal

Pharmaceutical companies: a "free" or less expensive allternative that won't cause ". . . vomiting, headache, the inability to maintain an erection, nosebleeds, blah blah" that all those lovely new wonder drugs have to tall you about when they advertise.

Plastics & petroleum: The big one. The one that started the road to illegality 80 years ago, the "evil weed" tales. We'll use rope as an example. Pick up a Hamilton Marine catalog. Look up "ropes and lines." Any natural fibers in there? No. All Dupont nylon, dacron, kevlar and other plastics. I had a job in the sixties and early seventies that required the use of rope. Lots of it, and block and tackle. No man made fibers. Too slippery. We used the old hemp ropes. Cheaper and better. Very strong. This is why it is so asinine that non-psychoactive hemp is illegal. This is pretty much the reason that ANY hemp is illegal. To line someone's pockets.

Here's another: pulp and paper. More fiber per acre per year can be grown from hemp than any commercial forest. Sorta screws up all that land ownership by the paper companies when an old potato field could replace hundreds of acres of well managed (if any of it was) timberland. 6 month crop rotation instead of 30 years.

Finally, don't forget the ridiculous amounts spent on the DEA and MDEA to keep America safe from the evil weed. God forbid they'd focus on methamphetamine or the pharmaceutical companies that pump out more oxycontin and legally rake in profits from the illicit use of oxy. Don't kid yourself. The excess production to fill the illegal demand is included in their profit margins.

I use mj for headaches. Over 20 years ago, a friend's mother was dying of non-Hodgkins lymphoma. She'd never smoked. Her daughter made her smoke some decent mj. It ended up being the only thing that comforted her rather than knock her out and make her totally useless, like morphine or other narcotic.

Vote No on 6!

I have already voted via absentee ballot. I voted Yes on 1, No on 2, Yes on 3, Yes on 4, No on 5, No on 6 and Yes on 7.

There, that's simple enough!

So the only drawback to the whole thing is that people may use cannabis for recreation???? That's not a very serious consequence considering that it is so much safer than alcohol anyway. Gee, talk about making mountains out of molehills.

The people of Maine have been smoking pot for years no big deal

Amen. Keeping it off the streets is a poor excuse, especially when it's ALREADY on every street corner in America. Prohibition has failed miserably. Wake up people.

bangorean, you must have really done your reseadch. it is all true what you are saying. they don't weant it legal for there own sake and selfish ways of somehow lining there pockets. i have ms and without it, i would be in constant spasms and cramps. i have tried all there other so-called meds only to get sick, dependent on there good meds. why are they so dead set against it, cause they won't line there pockets with it.

IF you want to talk about health care and rising costs, I have finally come to the conclusion that the real reason big pharma has been against medical marijuana, no less legalization, is the loss of market share. Nothing more complicated than that. They ALREADY KNOW that marijuana can beat many of their 'medication' hands down on so many levels. Just listen to any of the drug ads on constantly and you hear the side effects, many of them deadly, all of them costly, most of them ineffective. Do you have millions of people screaming for Cymbalta to be legalized or over the counter? No, but millions of people support the use of medical marijuana.

And yesterday, Pres. Obama ordered the Federal prosecutors to stop prosecuting those people following the laws of their states in states that allow the use of medical marijuana. There Dr. Dora Anne Mills! Where is your opposition to being in charge of Maine Marijuana Dispensaries now?

For the rest of you that want to vote no on #5, get educated for crying out loud and stop embarrassing yourselves in public. And finally, by loss of market share, I mean that MMJ can be used in many situations as a replacement for engineered drugs. Marijuana is not carcinogenic, is one of the few proactive medications that ease stress and tension which are behind many physiological diseases. So depressed you can't get our of your own way, but don't want to take a mood-elevator with suicidal side-effects? Take a puff or two and watch your coffee get cold as you get up and get busy.

I think it helps some sick people. but the bottom line. is once we have stores selling this stuff like CA. its going to be all over the place, more accessible, and getting into the hands of children more readily, more DUI's, more crime. this is a proven gateway drug. if you look at the big picture. more accessibility is bad for society.

"It's a proven gateway drug." Right. I know many people that have been smoking it for 40 years. They didn't "move on" to heroin, much less the highly profitable oxycontin. It's been DISPROVEN as a "gateway" drug. Nice try, though. You'd be better off spending your time educating yourself. Here's a research project: get the private funding list for DARE. That'll open up some eyes to the lies. The public premise for DARE is fine with me. The trouble is, the private, secret premise and who funds DARE is the big lie.

WHY NOT LET THEM HAVE IT JUST SO THEY CAN FEEL BETTER

Gopher, your comments are well put. Long-term use of cannabis does have a cummulative negative effect on the brain; it does kill some brain cells. However, if a person is dealing with the horrific pain of cancer; I'm for helping these people get quality cannabis to help with this. If the existing policies, however, are being abused already, why bother to do anything more?

Gopher...totally agree with your post.

Sometimes I think they should extract from the plant what works and regulate it like a drug. But then I know the cost to consumers will be through the roof.

Do I believe that pot has long term effects? Yes I do...I know quite a few people who's brains are a little fried after 40 years of smoking. Most of them really mellow people but people with difficulty in their lives with long term relationships.

1.) If you don't want the nastiness of smoking it, then ingest it. Ever heard of a pot brownie??? 2.) They're worried about pot dispensaries, but what about the Oxy dispensaries that give the drug to patients, who then get in a car and drive home??? We're prescribing a legal drug to "help" those who got themselves addicted to an illegal drug. That makes sense! 3.) If it is a legal, regulated dispensary then the authorities can monitor whether they're selling other illicit drugs or are selling to those who haven't been given a prescription...hmmm, sounds like the same issues that *could* come up with a regulated pharmacy. 4.) Given the 3,000 plant bust a few weeks ago, I'm thinking that there is already no shortage of supply, so how would this increase supply, especially to "our teens"? They're going to get it anyway...kinda like alcohol that they get their hands on...this won't increase illegal availability. The suppliers are just fine, I'm sure. 5.) If you need the drug then suck it up like the rest of us...get your prescription and go through the proper legal channels for it, which may include a dispensary or registry.

This is the only referendum question that isn't completely dumb.

After passage, give it a year or two and then de-criminalize quantities up to one kilo. Give that a few years, and then completely de-criminalize.

Vote Yes on 5.

. . . . . . . How is the law official gonna handle this federal law in their state once they has practice under the old law of the medical and/or mental illness now is not hidden of the ? ? ? .?. ? ? ?

AS DOES MARIJUANA CAUSE BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS AS ALCOHOL AND MAN MADE CHEMICAL PILL AND OF THE EVIL WEEDS [NATURAL HERBS] THAT COULD SAVE LOT OF MONEY ON BOTH SIDE AS THE MEDICAL HELP, AND WITH MARIJUANA USAGE COULD THERE BE ANY MORE SNITCH AS SQUALK OF THE HARDER DRUGS THAT IS MAN MADE, AS A PERSON DOES HAVE BREAST CANCER AND UNDER THE DOCTORS CARE AND I HAVE INFLUENCE THE PERSON TO SMOKE MARIJUANA{ 7 YEARS OF THIS} AS TO REMOVE SOME BONES AND ON THE LAST VISIT THE DOCTOR SAID TO COME BACK IN 3 MONTHS FOR A CHECK UP AS CANCER IS ALLERGIC TO MARIJUANA AS FARMARA OR CLOSE TO THE PILLS TO TREAT INSTEAD OF CHEMOTHERPY AS RADIATION TREATMENT, AS THE OLD LAW OF TO GO AGAINST THE MARIJUANA USE BECAUSE IT DOESN'T DO YOU LIKE ALCOHOL DOES OF IMPAIR DOUBLE VISION AS UNSTABLE TO GAIN MONEY OUT OF THE VIOLATE LAW TO GAIN POWER OF THE SLAVE TO PAY.

Chasing cannabis users is like chasing blacks or gays, or prohibition. A stupid prejudice from the past. Good luck! Maybe you can stop it, and we will have no homos, drinkers, or pot smokers, and we can go back to buying and selling of dark skinned people. Watch out, you Sicilians, with dark skin!

I'm voting no on 5 simply doing my duty to prevent more of our citizens from being stricken with an affinity for Phish.

If it's really in Freedom you're believin, then VOTE YES ON 5, 6 & 7 - ON ALL THE REST VOTE NO

I'd rather meet a car load of people smoking marijauna then one person who drank one beer any day.

People with anger issues should smoke marijauna too.

I like most others think the goverment should just tax it and let the world go round just like it does now.

Amen, letterreader...tho Barney Frank would gladly take my gun and make me pay $10/gallon for gas, if he could.

This is such a stupid argument. Just look at prohibition and alcohol use today and you'll realize we are victims of a bunch of zealous anti-everything idiots in law enforcement and the federal DEA that would never let facts and science change their position, having been part of the anti drug movement forever.

Sure there are entrenched interests like big Pharma and the plastics industry, but that is not the real issue. The real issue is the ideological fear that these people have for something they know nothing about.

In Mass we had a vote to allow grocery stores to sell alcohol. It failed. People wrote letters talking about that "evil alcohol". Sounded like stuff out of the middle ages.

We need to evolve beyond all these irrational fears and realize government has no place telling us what we can grow in our gardens.

It is the height of liberalism to tell people they cannot grow this plant. The government could even issue tags for your plants that would represent having paid the $20 tax for each plant. Just like building permits....a way to tax people for their activities.

There is no reason, even amongst the earnest postings here, to not allow people to grow and consume the plants they want in their own gardens.

Isn't this about the dumbest thing you ever heard. There's medicine for people with medical problems. Smoking is dangerous---be it tobacco OR marijuana. Next thing we know pot smokers will be sueing the government for lung damage from the marijuana they allowed them to smoke. Do they have a breath test for drivers stopped and impaired with pot ? If not, they'd better get one.

What's that you're saying, miamijohn ???

Ahh, no this isnt the dumbest thing I've ever read...but your post comes close eastmainer.

Of course there are Rx meds available for people with chronic pain, but those meds come with severe side effects...some of those can be deadly. The same cannot be said for marijuana. It’s one of the safest alternatives and needs to be made available.

And yes, they do have a sobriety test for recent cannabis use.

Do you even know the REAL reasons cannabis/hemp is illegal?

Do some research before you post.

sooo---correct me if i'm wrong here..............It would be Ok to smoke pot...but a serious crime if I smoke a marlboro within 20 feet of a restaurant? Is that what they are saying?

Bangorean, some addicts don't move on to cocaine. but a lot of them do. You are naive if you think more drug use is good for society.

its a proven gateway drug. most addicts say they started on pot. People who are stuck on pot shouldn't be applauded either.

Alcohol-abuse cost the taxpayers millions of dollars each year. and you yahoos are claiming pot should be legalized. gimme a break. Denial is a strong thing.

Pot makes you absolutely useless and stupid.

JoeDoe, you realize the gateway theory has been debunked over and over again?

One doesn’t need to be a user of cannabis to support legalization.

Marijuana has been decimalized since the 70’s. Its now time to legalize use and regulate cultivation.

Error No. 1: "some addicts don't move on to cocaine" Who is an addict. Marijuana has provent to be non-addictive over and over again.

Error No. 2: "you are naive if you think more drug use is good for society." Too late. I could go to any of hundreds of homes around Bangor and find

someone sitting down for the after-work buzz, from housepainters to lawyers and doctors. YOU are the one that's apparently naive.

Error No. 3: "proven gateway drug." Nope. Never. Cite the studies that "prove" such a ridiculous assertion.

Error No. 4: "people who are stuck on pot shouldn't be applauded, either." Nobody's applauding, just saying, perfectly functional adults who have been using marijuana for over 40 years are ALL AROUND YOU.

Error No. 5: "pot makes you absolutely useless and stupid." Nope. Cite some studies that support your claim. In any event, anyone with half a brain knows that LEGAL items such as alcohol and prescription drugs fit this assertion much more so than marijuana. If someone's going to be useless and stupid, that's a predisposition. Getting stoned every evening doesn't do it. PLUS, no hangover, and the only craving might be for a bowl of coco puffs. Now there's an evil addiction.

Non-Error #1: "Denial is a strong thing." Not really. Not very strong if nobody believes you.

Everyone has a right to their opinion. Some are simply wrong and based in pure hype and misinformation they've been fed for years. My first joint was smoked in 1969. After that over 8 years of college, advanced degree. And 40 years later, I'll still partake occassionally. Like I said, it cuts a headache to nothing quickly. Haven't actually "bought" any in years. Too many relatives, friends and neighbors have it or grow it. THAT'S reality. It'd drive you buggy to know who in Bangor still cops a buzz regularly. And still manages to function just fine.

Oh, and by the way, the hype about todays "superweed"? Nope. Best I ever saw was Acapulco Gold from Univeristy of Maine in 1975. And believe me, I've seen it all, from Trainwreck to CO to Chronic, Super Silverhair, Purple Haze, Panama Red and the various Colombian, Jamaican and Afghani strains, etc.

You can do just as well with hydro and your own lights at home. Just watch out for Bangor Hydro turning you in to the MDEA. They've done it on a number of occassions for high electrical consumption. Which leads me to believe CMP would do the same thing.

And again, I don't buy it any more and don't really care what goes on, since the "war on drugs" is a fallacy and was lost long ago. Stop wasting my tax dollars. Start taxing sales of it. FORGET trying to regulate cultivation. You can't do it now, and you won't do it in the future. You might as well try to regulate backyard gardens - growing carrots.

So, about the "8000" plants found in Wesley that miraculously turned into "3000" plants. What was the (truthful) final count, and what's the story?

'Hey JoeDoe state that marijuana [pot] makes you absolutely useless and stupid: how could that be apply to your statement ?

as if you JOEDOE has smoke it and it help you to be stupid and absolutely useless does tied into the law maker to judge the medicine miracle marijuana misconduct of what it does for you as the INDIANS use the chanicawaa before america was found.

\

how many morons does it take to understand that marijuana is very rarely a harmful substance!!! alcohol is more of a danger and concern than pot. this comment goes out to LawDisOrder.... you are retarded. if you truly believe that a license should be revoked than you obviously ignore the dangers created by the consumption of alcohol. personally i smoke marijuana and feel that the world would be a better place if EVERYONE at least tried it. if you havent even smoked EVER, dont even think of writing a negative comment to me, i wont listen for a damn second. how many people do you know that smoke dope?? almost everyone i know does and im PROUD to say that! :D the way i see it is this.. if you DONT like it, DONT smoke it... if you DO like it then smoke up!!! im tired of our piss poor government taking everything and regulating or illegalizing it!! LEGALIZE MARIJUANA!!!!!!!!!!

miamijohn, you're not helping. And American was never lost.

Have to laugh at the many on here who think that if they smoked a joint they'd be out pillaging, raping, and maybe even killing people because they'd be so out of control. And of course after getting a buzz on a couple of times, they'd then be passing through the magical gateway looking for heroin or cocaine. Absolutly amazing how ignorant of the facts so many people are. Facts people, not propaganda and inuendo. No, I don' think MJ should be used by teens - regulate it like you do booze. But your only kidding yourself if you think that every teenager in Maine who wants to use MJ can't find it on any block - quite possibly from a neighbor or relative or at their school. Wake up! As Bangorean said, you'd be absolutley astonished at how many of your friends, neighbors and relatives smoke a little MJ now and then.

I smell a groundswell coming! Watch out MDEA! You'll have to start focusing on REAL problems instead fo the easy pickin's of the evil weed!

My fear is, though, that big money will win out in the end one way or the other. Prohibitive regulations for home consumption, like are already in place for Industrial Hemp farming in Maine. The money will stop any forward movement, so don't expect miracles in the next year or two.

You asked, so here are a few reasons why to Vote No on #5...

Don Christen

Founder Maine Vocals

PUBLIC NOTICE from MAINE VOCALS

MAINE MEDICAL MARIJUANA ACT to HURT MORE THAN HELP

MAINE’S EXISTING MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW. WHY???

1. Puts DHS in charge of the ACT. (Same DHS that takes children away from parents for use of marijuana)

2. Creates ID Card System (Maine rejected the Feds real ID and we see problems with this)

3. Sets up Dispensaries (Under DHS) Cost $5000.00 for a state permit or license and needs county and town approval with unknown fees and regulations.

(We are in favor of a distribution system, but not this)

4. Felons are excluded from being caregivers even if charges stemmed from growing marijuana only. These are the people who have the most knowledge about growing marijuana that have committed no crimes of any other nature and are also some of the people who have been working to have the laws changed for medical marijuana.

5. Ads affirmative defense language instead of making it legal for patients.

There are several other reasons, but this is the top of the list. If you want to help, first get a copy of the initiative language and read it for yourself. Follow link below to read text of initiative. (http://www.mainepatientsrights.org/Petition%20MEDICAL%20MARIJUANA.pdf/) Don’t blindly vote for this without knowing what you are voting for. Most of us want a good medical marijuana law that works for the people of Maine, but we need a good one that will actually work. It needs compassion and common sense which has been left out of the language and Maine Vocals are working on a new initiative that does just that. Here are some of the things that have been left out of the current initiative we are voting on in November.

1. Authorization – by a diagnosis of an illness or symptom that marijuana may be beneficial in their therapy.

2. Protection for Doctors / State licenses if needed and requirement for Doctors to work with patients who request to use marijuana for there therapy.

3. Amount patient can possess needs to be increased. (Recommendation 3lbs)

( Feds provide 9lbs per year to their patients)

4. Amount of plants a patient can grow needs to be increased. (Recommendation 12 plants)

5. Equal protection for patients whether ID card system or not.

6. Patient and Doctor input on Board of Overseers of the Dep. that controls law. (Recommendation Dep. of Agriculture)

VOTE NO ON # 5

MAINE VOCALS / DON CHRISTEN Have discussed these problems during the drafting

of the initiative with the sponsors of it, Maine Marijuana Policy Initiative. Director, Jonathan Leavitt, received a grant from the Marijuana Policy Project from Washington, DC, who actually drafted the language for the Maine initiative. We told them it was not what Mainers wanted but they could care less. We believe the public should be aware of the chicanery that is about to take place under the guise of progress for medical marijuana and also that Maine Vocals / Maine Citizens For Medical Marijuana are circulating a petition to actually fix our medical marijuana law as shown above and another to end prohibition altogether

WANT TO HELP? Contact us at: Tel. 696-4444 / 696-7015 or mainevocals@msn.com

maybe they should extract from spinach what works and regulate IT like a drug.

If they are going to use it as a medical drug to treat medical conditions then it should be treated as such.same testing that any drug goes through and dispensed through a pharmacy with a prescrition from a doctor.

Sorry. I support legalization and tax commercial sales. The woodsbillies from Starks carry no weight in my opinions. And ya, the DHS shouldn't have anything to do with it. Doctor, caregiver, patient and MAYBE the local sheriff dept. It would take a couple of years for the sherrifs to get over their bad selves and stick to the rules, though. Besides, it's already EVERYWHERE for crying out loud.

And of COURSE its chicanery. Vote Yes and it'll be years before any of this is in place. Vote No and it starts all over again, and takes years to make any further headway. You think THAT'S chicanery, wait 'til it's legalized somehow. That U.S. patent I cited earlier looks like it could really screw things up UNLESS the right people enforce it against big pharma, THEN they've done something for the American people instead of playing fast and loose with the patent process.

And Maineboy, it's a plant that the Feds labeled a "drug". It's not illegal to possess digitalis (a flower), but it's illegal to possess the manmade version (heart medication) without a prescription.

Bangorean great information. All I have to say about this subject is I watch my wife suffer daily from the effects of Multiple Schlerosis, marijuana relieves her pain as well as spasams much better than anything her Dr. has given her. It was recommended that she start smoking a small amount daily from the head of neurology at a very prestigous school/hospital. It has worked wonders, its just not right that for me to grow a little herb to help her feel better I become a crimminal.

I've got several freinds with MS and they spark up daily. Different grades of MS, depending on where the plaque attaches to the spinal column, I believe. It helps all of them through the day. When I was hospitalized years ago in Farminton at Redington Hosptial with a shattered humerus, they cut off the pain meds the first day, since I walked in carrying my arm and asked for 10cc of demeral. Sooo, in traction, with a 12' screw through my elbow, in a private room (this is in the '70's), I had someone crack the window and smoked my way out of pain daily. The doctor allowed it as long as I called the orderly first, who would sit against the room door. After a couple days of that (occassionally, no, not all day long) guess what the orderly was doing? Traction is a beoch, but the pain was managable for the week and a half I was there.

I believe marijuana isn' t as harmful as alcohol or cigarettes. These two addictive products have caused more families more problems than pot ever could and they are government approved and taxed. Why phase in the legalization of pot where you need a doctors approval to get it when it's so easy to get a prescription for anything else you want. Just legalize it, tax it, and focus on more important things. Let law enforcement personell deal with the harder drugs like heroin, cocain, meth, etc. instead of spending thier time and our money burning pot fields and having no arrests to show for it. There is a lot more serious stuff coming from your nieghborhood pharmacy that is prescribed, taxed, addictive and abused. The pharmacutical industry is as big or bigger than the oil industry. Take better control of the other controlled substances and stop wasting the taxpayers resources on the potheads.

Could someone please explain to me how alcohol use is somehow more benign that marijuana use? Anyone, anyone? Legalize it and tax the hell out of it. (Duh!)

Like I've been saying. Follow the money$$$$. This is why neither a NO vote or a YES vote is going to lead to anything useful. Millions will be spent to prevent it with obfuscation and outright lies by:

Pharmaceutical Companies

Alcohol producing firms

Pulp and paper industry

Funding into "the war on drugs", Sheriff's Assn., Police Assn's. DARE, MDEA, DEA, etc. etc.

Plastics Manufacturing companies like Dupont.

So why waste taxpayer money on this whole charade? It's not going to change the consumption habits of hundreds of thousands of Mainers using it both recreationally and medicinally. It would probably just create another bureacracy of coveted "State jawbs" to further bleed the taxpayers dry.

I have to wonder if this is a *good* thing or if its just about sucking more tax dollars out of the already overtaxed people of Maine.

Thousands of Maine's tax paying citizens toke up occasionally and those people shouldnt have to worry about a possible criminal conviction or losing their livelyhoods.

Just legalize it already

Ask a policeman when the last time was that he had to subdue a violent pot smoker. Then ask him when was the last time he had to subdue a violent drunk. There is a taboo with those people who feel like their righteous morality must be accepted by all, but I would imagine that the liquor and pharmaceutical industries are the one's fighting this, plus drug dealers and growers who would watch their market collapse if pot moves closer to legalization.

.'.'.'.'.'.'.' JUST THINK OF TO HOW MANY LAW MAKER FEDERAL OFFICIAL IN THE OFFICE TO LEGALIZED MARIJUANA 'THAT HAS AN INVESTMENT INTO THE PHARMACEUTICAL AND/OR ALCOHOL AND/OR SOME TYPE OF BUSINESS FAILURE TO LEGALIZED MARIJUANA DUE TO THEIR INVESTMENT LOSE IF THE NATURAL HERB [MARIJUANA] WAS LEGAL TO BE USE FOR MEDICAL AND/OR MENTAL ILLNESS AS RECREATION DRUGS.'.'.'.'.'.'.' ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

"Gateway Drug" is a man made term.

I was really hoping TempleGreen had posted since he smokes for religious reasons.

Guess what?

Regardless of what changes with the medical marijuana laws in the state of Maine, I am going to find it or grow it and I am going to smoke it, vaporize it or eat it when I need it. I have MS and this helps me to work a full time job, participate in activities of daily life and do it free of pain and spasms.

Finding a doctor who will write whatever documentation is needed is impossible. Insurance does not pay for the procurement of marijuana.

The funny thing is the doctors will prescribe all the painkillers and anti-spasticity meds I want, and the insurance company will try to make it hard for me to actually GET them and when I finally DO get them, I can take them and be a drooling zombie and that is legal. You all can support me while I veg out on legal drugs or I can medicate with MJ and live a normal life and work and pay taxes!

I worked for many years on an ambulance and I can tell you, I never had to restrain a patient who smoked MJ. I never had to give care to a wife or child whose husband smoked MJ and beat them almost to death. I cannot say the same about drinkers!

Move on from the Stone Age, Maine.

I gave up pot years ago. but I think after all these comment I'll grow an acre or two and try it agaiin and see if it still makes me paranoid. Wait , maybe it was you people that made me paranoid .

some of the only complaints on here is that people think this will make it easier for pot smokers who aren't using it for medicinal purposes to get their pot. but trust me, its not that hard to get pot. i'm not a smoker but i know people who do smoke. you'd rather sit there and worry about the fact that OTHER people might get high or arrested then face the fact that when you vote no, other people who actually do need this drug will suffer because your stupidity. why should it matter to you if other people smoke or not? if you're not doing it then its really just none of your business.

this won't legalize marijuana what so ever. all its going to do is make it easier and safer for patients to get their marijuana. its going to help the people who are in PAIN constantly to feel a bit better. we've legalized alcohol but yet people stillhave this big argument against marijuana?

and for all of you talking about "violent smokers" you've obviously never talked to someone who was high or been high yourself. there is absolutely nothing violent about getting high. you might be a little out of it but you can get somewhat of the same effect from drugs that are legalized and get abused more than marijuana.

get a grip Maine.