State panel debates access to medical pot
12/2/09 | 20 comments
health

State panel debates access to medical pot


By Kevin Miller
BDN Staff

AUGUSTA, Maine — Nearly one month after voters supported expanding Maine’s medical marijuana law, members of a task force began debating how best to help sick patients get easier access to the drug without threatening public safety or creating a bureaucratic nightmare.

The new law, which nearly 60 percent of Maine voters approved, allows qualified individuals to set up medical marijuana dispensaries that would be licensed by the state.

The ballot initiative also directs Maine government to issue identification cards to people who are legally allowed to use the drug and expands the list of ailments for which doctors could recommend medical marijuana.

But members of a task force said Tuesday that aspects of the new law could be problematic for law enforcement as well as the bureaucrats charged with overseeing distribution of a drug that remains illegal under federal law.

“This bill is not drafted in sync with other Maine statutes, and I am concerned about that,” said Attorney General Janet Mills, a member of the panel charged by Gov. John Baldacci with implementing the new law.

Several other panel members acknowledged that that law will need tweaking when the Legislature returns in January, but they cautioned against attempting to reopen debate over the core issue given the strong showing at the polls.

“I think our mandate is clear. The people have spoken,” said John McElwee, a retired District Court judge and former drug court judge. “I think we have to fashion something that gets this to the people that need it.”

Maine voters first approved the use of medical marijuana in 1999. That law allowed individuals who receive a doctor’s recommendation to possess up to 2.5 ounces of the drug and to grow up to six plants.

Critics argued, however, that the original law did not provide users with a legal route for obtaining pot, thereby forcing those unable to grow it themselves to buy it from drug dealers.

The new law calls for the establishment of nonprofit, board-governed dispensaries where qualified patients or their designated caregivers could purchase marijuana. The dispensaries, which have been approved in four other states, also will be licensed to grow marijuana for qualified patients.

But panel members said the law contains glaring holes, especially in the areas of confidentiality and quality control of marijuana grown by the licensed dispensaries.

Commissioner Anne Jordan of the Department of Public Safety said that the locations of dispensaries would be kept secret from police departments under the ballot initiative. Jordan questioned how officers could confirm the claims of someone who insists they are growing or transporting pot for a legal dispensary.

The existing law does not preclude municipalities from passing local ordinances banning dispensaries within certain zones. But because of the confidentiality requirements, local officials would be unable to find out whether any dispensaries are located within town limits.

Gordon Smith, executive vice president of the Maine Medical Association, said that unlike drugs regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, there is no way for physicians to guarantee the quality of medical marijuana. Smith also warned that many doctors may be unwilling to recommend medical marijuana to patients if the law is perceived as being flawed.

But Dan Walker, an attorney representing the group behind the recent medical marijuana initiative, said none of the issues discussed Tuesday was necessarily new or insurmountable. Walker pointed out that California, Colorado, New Mexico and Rhode Island all have some form of dispensary system.

New Mexico’s law, in particular, could serve as a valuable template for the task force as it works to implement the new system in Maine, he said.

Faith Benedetti, a former program coordinator of Dayspring AIDS Support Services, said she has met many severely ill patients for whom medical marijuana has made all the difference by helping them sleep, eat and ease chronic ailments. Benedetti said she hopes the panel will find a way to shorten the potential 30-day wait in the current bill, which could be a long and painful delay for someone suffering from serious illness.

“There are real people who are waiting for us to make these decisions in a way that is going to be sensible and helpful to them,” she said.

The panel is expected to meet at least two more times before the Legislature convenes next month. Lawmakers will have 45 days to amend the law.

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Comments
20 comments on this item
On 12/1/09 at 8:11 PM, harley07 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Leave it to bunch of lawyers to screw everything up. They can't even divide a pie in two before writing half a book on how it should be done legally.

No more common sense anymore in this country.

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On 12/1/09 at 8:19 PM, Joshua wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I think that its pretty damn obvious what Maine voters were saying when they voted yes on this.... Think about it though, pot busts are one of the biggest sources of income for the lawyers and prosecutors who make up our state government (and federal, too), so its not hard to understand that they would take issue with anything that moves us even just a percieved step closer to outright legalization. Think about it, would there really be any way for the state to justify the level of spending on anti-drug campaigns without pot?

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On 12/1/09 at 8:22 PM, bumpinroad wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

don't waste that pie on lawyers, I'll take if off your hands. you said a mouthful with your no common sense anymore in this country.

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On 12/1/09 at 9:10 PM, exlex94 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

The State of Maine will be a hindrance to people looking to alleviate their pain. To the State Listen the people have spoken, to the proecutors listen the people have spoken. Stop the bs and get a fair system set up. The time for lealization has arrived. The people have voted. live with that fact.

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On 12/1/09 at 9:43 PM, mainelyagony wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

exlex94....Live with the fact?? The wheels in the capital can't live with it. They can't get anything together for a variety of reasons. First and foremost is the fact that they just don't like the law. Screw the people and what they have spoken. Mark my words, when they finally get done "tweaking" it, it will be so complex and loaded down with bullsh*t that in the end, nothing will really have changed all that much. The cops have been on the power trip against pot for so long there is no way that you are going to get them to just accept this and I don't care what the people said. The people are voiceless in this new world. By the people, for the people and of the people is dead and buried. If you think I am wrong, just watch what happens with this voted on piece of legislature. I don't need to see a movie 30 times to know how it is going to end. Peace and Merry Christmas too all!! Or should I say, Happy Holidays..??? Wanna sing some holiday carols standing beside my holiday tree???

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On 12/1/09 at 9:52 PM, exlex94 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

mainelyagony you are probably right. i am giving the people in augusta too much credit. the people have spoken and a good law will become just another state screw up.

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On 12/1/09 at 10:50 PM, nikky607 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Typical beaurocratic SNAFU. I,ve been toking "medicinally" for fourty years now.The people have spoken.I'm siill hoping to see complete legalization in my lifetime.

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On 12/2/09 at 4:22 AM, Jazz11 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

What is wrong with following what they did in California? The morons in Augusta will surely screw this up. Given the dollars that law enforcement spends each year it is in their bested interest to make it as difficult as possible for an ill person to obtain help. Plain and simple aw enforcement have corrupt ideas when it comes to pot!

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On 12/2/09 at 5:06 AM, brooks10 wrote: Click here to view hidden comment         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
On 12/2/09 at 5:50 AM, glenme wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

He is an idea. Why not use all the confiscated pot to stock the dispensaries? Put it to use instead of burning it. The WAR on pot reminds me of prohibition and we should be able to see how that worked out if we can read. As long as law enforcement gets big dollars to fund pot eradication they will fight any reform in the laws.

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On 12/2/09 at 7:01 AM, tomdduke wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

A good idea, glenme, start checking out all the PD property rooms for their stash. Must be kilos...

Is this law retro-active? Or will those waiting for trial not be released?

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On 12/2/09 at 8:43 AM, ChainLaker wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

It's been about a month since a considerable majority of voters in Maine approved expanding Maine's medical marijuana law. Now, the governor has appointed an unwieldy "task force" to do its best to modify, to tax for revenue, to control, to gain financial benefit from and to generally beat to death what has previously been approved in several other forward-minded states. A cumbersome task force may be needed to reinvent a wheel. But, I doubt it would take more than a committee of three with any common sense at all to make a wheel better. So, lets make an industry out of regulating this thing. Let's get all the lawyers and politicians and legislators and bureaucrats and experts involved. The cost doesn't matter, because the state will use taxpayer dollars to do it. And, so what that 95% of those on the task force really don't support the new law. Hey, we voted 'em in, didn't we.

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On 12/2/09 at 9:08 AM, Inloveyoung4814 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Theres already enough pot in this world that people smoke and even know it not legal there going to do it anyways

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On 12/2/09 at 9:54 AM, realist38 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

"threatening public safety?" Yeah that medicinal weed will really threaten public safety, what about the case of beer the guy drinks before he drives? Now THAT is a threat to public safety. There's bound to be a riot with all these ill stoners running around...NOT.

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On 12/2/09 at 9:56 AM, jeffglidden wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

It will probably take these beauracrats ANOTHER TEN YEARS to get it together. JUST LEGALIZE IT!!! Problem solved.-jg

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On 12/2/09 at 10:06 AM, outlaw wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

legalize the green,buy us back from china.peace

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On 12/2/09 at 12:18 PM, fabo20 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

This article is making it sound like Maine is the first state to have to overcome the obstacle of dispensing pot. LOL here is a tad bit of advice for the fifteen pound water heads in augusta. Look into how its done in, Rhode Island, northern California, and Colorado. Its OK to use other states ideas. My brain still hurts from the fact that it will be legal statewide for medicinal use, but if the FBI or DEA catch you, your gonna have a sore butthole.

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On 12/3/09 at 7:04 AM, tomdduke wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

So who's gonna supply the weed? Are farmers going to set up hydroponics in their barn for the winter? How does one get designated to this lofty position?

What likely is scaring your elected bonehead is the sound of the words 'non-profit'. Very scary to a legal beagle!

You need someone with charisma and authority to speak up and say "Just do it!" to stop these dithering idiots of tidal sway from procrastinating until the cows come home.

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On 12/3/09 at 9:25 AM, B_Godot wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

And, as near as I can tell, there are no consumers on this task force. That makes it flawed from the start. Granted, given the Federal viewpoint and the War on Drugs, it's no wonder people might hesitate to come forward and identify themselves.

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On 12/3/09 at 9:09 PM, blueskiesaboveme wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I think what is lacking in the bill is a medical marijuana sales tax on all purchases.

Colorado is currently implementing a medical marijuana sales tax and it is going to provide millions in new tax revenues to help balance their state budget.

Maine should follow suit and implement it's own medical marijuana sales tax.

The tax revenues could go towards balancing local and state budget gaps.

Imagine, a tax that people would be in favor of paying!

With a unemployment rate topping 8%

And a State Budget Gap coming on 400 million,

A blossoming medical marijuana industry is just what this state needs.

Thousands of new jobs and incomes would be legitimately created,

Millions in new tax revenues could be collected, cuts to Government agencies can be avoided!

And Maine People will finally get some true medical relief!

Maine can implement the proper safeguards and oversight, but Maine can also leave enough room to foster a new entrepreneur Maine Spirit!

We can do it!

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