60% of the voters approved medical usage. It is no wonder the Bangor city council is the laughing stock of the state and some taxpayers want a recall.

if you can find room for a meth clinic, you can find room for a pot dispensary.

Move on. It's not going to happen, folks. Life goes on as it has for 30 years, it's illegal, and those that use it to soothe multiple sclerosis, cancer and rheumatoid arthritis pains and others will continue to have it, use it and SHOULDN'T give their names to DHHS or the police. They're just ASKING for trouble if they do.

I'm really afraid that little old ladies with glaucoma or cancer might corrupt our school children, church goers, and library visitors.

Are the police given a list of clients that use the methadone clinics? Are Dr.'s required to give a list of patients that are prescribed Oxy's or Perc's? If so, then it is time for another revolution.

Lumping weed with hard drugs??!! Make people go to a drug rehab facility to buy weed??!! People . . .SERIOUSLY?? Gawd, the Bangor City Council needs to get a grip . . this is not nuclear physics folks! Butcher, baker, candlestick maker . . .they all smoke weed! Chances are your doctor, or you attorney or your accountant toke up after work . . .this will not change . . but for some, the thing that does change is the opportunity to buy weed in safe and legal surroundings.

The stigma attached to smoking weed will be slow to change. Many people still view anyone that likes to take a toke as being a "doper". Well . . .I know many people that like to drink alcohol, and they are not "alcoholics" . . . I know people that like to gamble, but are far from being a 'gamblers".

Stop being afraid of the unknown. Educate yourself!

I hope the Bangor city council can keep its hands off this to a large degree, because they tend to screw up everything that they get involved in. The voters have decided where they stand on this issue - now get out of the way. Oh, and in case they dont' realize it, there are already 'dispenseries' all over the city.

I would be more interested in seeing a public list of doctors who prescribe Oxy's than patients who get it. Doctors are supposed to be the gatekeepers to those drugs & they do a horrible job - accountability might make them more thoughtful.

legalizing pot stores is just another sign of our degrading society. crime is directly related to drug use. drug use is directly related domestic abuse and other forms of abuse. and DUI. You think this is good for society? BS. say what you want. you all know this is bad. this sends a terrible message to our children as well. very sad.

Comparing Pot to Methadone and other hard drugs is like comparing Alcohol to Methadone and other hard drugs.

From now on all Alcohol may only be dispensed at drug rehab clinics!

This shouldn't be treated differently than any other prescription. Cop pulls you over, you have pot, and then you have to show proof it's a prescription, just like any other controlled substance.

Enough already, pot should be legal instead of alcohol.

"Enough already, pot should be legal instead of alcohol. "

Considering what I've seen ast the SeaDog I'm guessing you won't get our council to support anything anti-alcohol any time soon.

But hey, it's ok for them to booze it up it's legal.

Does this mean I can't go to Pickering Square and buy my supply? What ever you need is for sale there. It must be a legal dispensary as the police never go there. they should put a clinic right there so the little dopers can keep worm while getting high.

Legalize it; put a 50 dollar a pack tax on it and eliminate the income tax...

I nominate JoeDoe for Nit Wit of the Year.

i have to agree with one of these comments that oxy whatever is far worse than pot ever was or can be ..The results of oxycotin addictions resulted in all these methodone clinics and all these home invasions and robberys. Are the police keeping tabs on these perscribed drug users,diverted persciptions .All these pot issues and trafficking laws could be concetrated on addictive drugs if they would let everyone just grow a couple plants for themselves.And yes marijuana can be abused like beer and wine. The ones in power know these facts yet trudge on with there control of the people..The problem seems to be on how they can make money on this new lawand how to control it for tax purposes not what the people who voted want or need!

These people who didn't get their way in the last election are still trying to make smokescreens and throw up obstacles to avoid the outcome of their fears. They have been asked to do something they just don.t want to do. Focus some of that fear on Oxzees and Vikes. Doctors provide them and they are everywhere. Some of these Doctors offices are right beside schools.No fear there.

As expected law enforcement is going to delay and stall any way they can the implementation of this new law. They don't like losing control. They behave like a small child that has not gotten its way, reference the "loony" comment made by the Attorney General. Law enforcement can see their ill conceived war on drugs and the money it brings into their coffers slipping away from them. The new law will go into effect, just like it has in the other states that have approved similar laws and there is nothing they can do to stop it. An overwhelming majority of the Maine populace voted in favor of this new law. If they (law enforcement) attempt to circumvent the new law they will suffer another setback from the voters when they pass laws that are even more lenient.

My ex-wife has breast cancer and lives in a state that does not have legal medical marijuana. She is under-going her chemotherapy regimen right now. The pills that they give her only partially control the nausea and sickness she is experiencing. It's a sad state of affairs that we have a natural plant that could possibly help her, but she must become a criminal to obtain it. I am about as right wing conservative Republican as you can get, but this war on drugs we are waging is a waste of my and your tax dollars. It does nothing but fill up our jails with low level offenders and in at least some cases prevents people who could benefit from certain drugs from obtaining them legally. I'm all for locking up people who commit violent drug related crimes, but these are a small portion of the population we are locking up for drug offences.

No liberal comment yet? I'm surprised.

"On 12/9/09 at 1:05 PM, ronaldo82k wrote: Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

No liberal comment yet? I'm surprised."

How can you possibly see this as a liberal/conservative issue?

I think most liberals are in favor of legalization and some have posted that here. I also think this is something that crosses party lines as I am all for legalizing pot and I am a strong conservative.

I think the only people against it are people who wish to control it for financial gain.

Dispensaries are a non issue - there are very few md`s in the state wiing to write the script for the pot for fear of liabiitys, the feds , etc. I`d guess maybe a couple dozen legal patients. I beieve that the larger hospitals and medical groups that the md`s work for prohibit it as well .

Shame because it helps.

I agree with iTHINKso2, medical marijuana should be treated the same way as any other presciption. I don't see why we need to have dispensories, just have Pharmacies fill the doctors presciption just like ALL other presciptions. California has done it all wrong maine should look at there problems and come up with a new way of doing it. I personally voted no for medical pot, just for this reason. IF A DOCTOR PRESCRIBED IT, IT YOU SHOULD HAVE TO GO TO A PHARMACY TO GET IT.

JoeDoe

I pray for you that you never get a disease where you will need pain or nausea relief - its not about crime or abuse or liberal or conservative its about medicine

Two children that I knew have been killed in the last ten years from doing the methadone their fathers received THROUGH THE MAIL I've read several stories of young adults getting alcohol poisoning and dying during chug-a-lug contests. The twin Oxy's are causing immeasurable harm it rural areas all across the country. The most prolific killer of people is heart disease, and the greatest killer of people before their time is automobiles. In my entire life, I have never heard of a person dying from ingesting marijuana. I have never heard of anyone killing anyone while smoking pot. And although I investigated child abuse in Massachusetts during the 1970's I never found a child who was physically abused by a person whose drug of choice was marijuana.

I'm truely ignorant about the "dangers" of marijuana, having never smoked the stuff myself, but my observation is that it is less harmful than many other substances which are perfectly legal for adults. A friend of mine (when I was young) theorized that the liquor industry (a heavy spending lobby) is behind the draconian laws against marijuana.

I say this is supposed to be a "free country" so, let the people do as they please with a RELATIVELY harmless substance.

newportres, i dont think its a liberal/conservative issue. it just seems everybody here likes to turn it into one.

I am thinking if the police do not have the names of the medical marijuana users, they could make their lives very difficult if they are stopped and they have any marijuana on them. Imagine grammy being dragged off to jail and having to prove herself innocent....not a pretty picture

Joedoe, this isn't a pot store where you pull up to the window and say "yeah give me a bag panama red please and throw in some strawberry flavored zigzags."

This kind of pot is going to be garbage when compared to the stuff that gets you high, after the government gets done with it, it will not only not get you high they'll take out all the stuff that is helpful and turn it into a cigarette, charge you a lot and ruin it as a natural medcine.

Harry and others. pot stores are okay with you huh? yeah right, until some drug crazed idiot breaks into your house looking for anything that can convert into drug money for their next hit, and they'll walk over yours and your dead family members bodys to get it. Most of these guys that are incarcerated did there crimes on drugs and those who murdered people in their homes admit that they are sorry for it now, but at the time, they would have done just about anything to get their next hit. more accessibility = more use. period. Get Real!

Have the critics read the law? Before you jump in the pool. please READ the law.

http://www.mainepatientsrights.org/Petition%20MEDICAL%20MARIJUANA.pdf

Patients may grow their own. They may have up to six plants, three of which may be mature. They may possess 2.5 ounces of packaged product. Dispensaries can only grow six plants per patient. It's not going to be a storefront operation like the corner store, as it is in California. They can only grow it in a locked, secure facility.

Doctors cannot PRESCRIBE marijuana. Marijuana is still classified as a schedule 1 drug by the DEA. Physicians work with a medical license and write prescriptions under the DEA. All they can do is recommend it via a PRIVATE letter, and when they are willing to recommend it, they want it kept PRIVATE, between them and the patient. I don't know any physician who has recommended medical marijuana to a patient who wants their name on a list or available to the public. It should be between the patient and the doctor.

We've had a medical marijuana law on the books since 1999, folks. All of a sudden it's news because the new law makes it easier for those who NEED it to get it, and it expands the diseases and conditions listed under the law. How the heck do you think we have been getting it for the past ten years? Have you seen us in the court news or the police log? We've been here all along, we've been growing it and finding it and we haven't caused the world to implode or caused any strife. A lot of us are progressing in our illnesses and can no longer go out and find it or continue with the considerable effort it takes to grow it. That is where the dispensaries come in.

The people of Maine have spoken loudly and clearly. Let's hope that the lawmakers that WE have elected don't make it even harder for us to follow a law that only expands on an existing law. Let's hope that they don't create more pain for us, and put the law into effect with compassion, understanding, and respect for the privacy of patients, their caregivers and their physicians.

JoeDoe wrote:

"Harry and others. pot stores are okay with you huh? yeah right, until some drug crazed idiot breaks into your house looking for anything that can convert into drug money for their next hit, and they'll walk over yours and your dead family members bodys to get it. Most of these guys that are incarcerated did there crimes on drugs and those who murdered people in their homes admit that they are sorry for it now, but at the time, they would have done just about anything to get their next hit. more accessibility = more use. period. Get Real!"

Excuse me Joe, but, WHAT??? I said NOTHING about pot stores. I have NEVER seen a high pot smoker who I can't out run, out fight and out talk. My post was relating that I have never in my life seen a violent marijuana user. I am far more concern about being run over by some drunk when out walking my dog. As far as more use goes, I don't see how that is possible, EVERYONE I know between the ages of 13 and 65 (except me) has used marijuana, and a large majority still does.

It's really amazing that narcotics are much more acceptable form of treatment than medical marijuana. In California, they are using medical marijuana to treat kids with ADHD, OCD, and autism with very positive results. The old more commonly used pharmaceuticals have been proven to be ineffective due to dangerous side effects. When are we going to care enough about our children and our elders to speak up on their behalf and demand that their lives not be short-changed by the pharmaceutical industry?

Personally I don`t see ANY problem with the medical use of marijuana. Some people really do have the need and should have the right to use it! I don`t think it should be treated any different than any other herb or spice. If a person wanted to they could drink enough water to kill themself, does that mean we should pass laws about how much water we can drink? I think not! This being "the home of the free",. HA-HA!

Why isn't the drug going to be dispensed in licensed pharmacies by licensed pharmacists after a written prescription from a licensed physician...in tablet or other approved form...it's not like we're expecting baggies to be handed out on the street. Why, one more time, are we trying to make this as complicated as possible? as difficult as possible for the patients who truly need to use this legalized medication?

Gay people can't marry in Maine, but the potheads will continue to get the dope, LEGALLY.......something seems wrong here......

andthen, unlike most others has obviously done their homework. Everyone having any misgivings about this new law passed by a respectable majority of the voting public should at least educate themselves before they criticize or condemn it. In the BDN article by Eric Russell, he refers in the first paragraph to the "task force discussing possible amendments to the recently expanded medical marijuana law". How can a so-called task force amend what the people voted on. Do we get to vote on any proposed amendments? Who has the power in this state: The people or some task force. Their job should be limited to how to implement the mandate of the people. Amendments must be approve by the populace. Otherwise, we should throw the bums out at election time.

Something is wrong when physically ill people in pain and suffering can access an important medication? Something is wrong when a humab being wants to see others continue to suffer.

As far as zoning is allowable, any other kind of farm crop is allowed to be sold from the farm, and Bangor has some zones that both raise and sell there crops, like Sprauges Nursery, not that they want this trade, but the cultivation of the product, and its retail sale are permissible at the same location.

ncikatz:

Maine doctors have not, and are not writing prescriptions for medical marijuana,

And pharmacies are unable to fill scripts of medical marijuana even if they wanted to.

Why?

Any drug dispensed at a pharmacy, is regulated by the Food and Drug Adminstration.

Marijuana, is still federally listed as a Schedule 1 narcotic, with supposed no medical value.

Therefore, doctors cannot "prescribe" it, and pharmacies cant fill it.

Maine doctors write letters of "recomendations" for medical marijuana.

That is why dispensaries were created.

Because people needed access to their medical marijuana, but didnt have the means or time to grow and process it themselves.

The State regulated dispensaries will bring a horizon of transparency and legitimacy.

Aren't pharmacies considered dispensaries for prescribed drugs. Why set up stand-alone dispensaries for just one drug? Marijuana is by no means methodone, so I don't understand the dilema. It's not as though a morphine addict can walk into a pharmacy and simply order morphine, so why would anyone believe that someone could walk into the same pharmacy and simply order some marijuana? The State of Maine is complicating this big time.

What gets my guff,

Why isnt anyone on the task force or town Municpalities correlating Medical Marijuana with new job creation and new tax revenues?!!

Lets implement a medical marijuana sales tax. Base it on weight, dollar tax per 2 grams or something.

Lets offer homeowners tax breaks to those that grow medical marijuana for local dispensaries,

Lets setup a framework so Mainers can earn much needed second incomes, and develope the home grown medicines that can provide true relief to our fellow Mainers suffering!

Many incentives and smart regulations could make this work smoothly, transparently, and lucratively.

Basically,

When it comes to Maine's future blossoming medical marijuana industry,

I think FDR's quote deems appropriate,

"The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself."

Seriously MaineSurvivor2, your like the third or fourth person to ask that question,

the answer has been posted, dead arguement.

Unless Maine can take Marijuana off the Schedule 1 in the Control Substances Act,

We wont be seeing Doctors writing any "prescriptions" or pharmacies filling any orders of medical marijuana.

Doctors are writing letters of "recomendations."

Dispensaries are being created and regulated, to be able to fill Maine patients doctors "recomendations."

These patients, will then be varified at the despensary, with a registry ID system.

Sign the recall petition. The city of bangor's board are not doing a good job SIGN THE RECALL