PORTLAND, Maine — A state health official says plans by the operators of a medical marijuana dispensary scheduled to open in Portland next month to include a coffee bar, acupuncture clinic and “vapor lounge” at the facility run afoul of state rules.
John Thiele of the Health and Human Services Department says a dispensary with such amenities would violate state regulations aimed at ensuring that dispensaries are places to get medicine for serious illnesses, not places to “hang out.”
He tells The Portland Press Herald that creating a social setting for the dispensation of medical marijuana is unhealthy because it promotes more marijuana use than is medically necessary.
The operator, Wellness Connection of Maine, could not be reached for comment. Their two other dispensaries in Maine do not have the same amenities.
“Vapor Lounge”… is this another name for getting high at the doctor’s office?
All pharmacies should have a vapor lounge and coffee bar. Bring the kids.
Vaporizers allow patients to absorb the important compounds in Cannabis without burning the plant material.
This is no more a place to ‘hang out’ than a dialysis clinic.
How do they get home after?
They Fly!
Probably they same way they get home from methadone clinics.
same wa they do when they leave the done, orbox clinic. IN A COMA
Just a quick reference as to the dangerous effects of marijuana. In 2010 Prescription drugs used as prescribed caused just over 10,000 deaths. Marijuana was not listed as the primary cause of death in a single case. (Viewable at http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000145)
This would be great for many people; after I drive 3 hours to the cancer center in Portland, this vaporizer center would really help with the road sickness. ( You most likely; won’t understand until it it you are in my shoes.) Just think the state could “tax the vapor”. Who ever though…
Once again the state (despite LIEpage’s sign), is seemingly CLOSED for business…It’s apparently only open to businesses which line the pockets of the ROBthePUBLICan Party…like, say, health insurance corporations…who can rewrite state laws to profiteer at the expense of everyday Mainers…
ROBthePUBLICan
Thats amazing
I gotta tell ya. I know several incredibly liberal ADULTS, not teenagers, not college students That are VERY aware of the harm that Marijuana is causing our society at this very moment.
And ‘please, PERSON THAT IDENTIFIES THEMSELVES AS A DRUNK. Grow up, This isn’t about left and right it’s about right and wrong.
Just because we like something and refuse to acknowledge the obvious affect it has on our lives doesn’t mean we should project our stupidity onto others.
By your reasoning, alcohol and cigarettes should be illegal.
I wish. I get the buzz, the appeal of alcohol although I have no use for it. . But cigarettes?? What redeeming value do they have?? The only reason they are still legal is because of the tax money involved. I smoke, I am annoyed at the idea of a bar owner not being able to decide whether people can smoke or not. That has nothing to do with understanding how worthless, how expensive and how addictive the product is. Other then, “hey it’s a free society ” can you give me one reason that cigarettes should be legal? My god they throw a fit over a happy meal but cigarettes are legal????? What does that tell you?
I agree. Cigarettes are the only saleable item that, when used as directed, are harmful to the user and everyone else within breathing space of the smoker. As for the bar owner, I believe the law was passed to protect the workers at the bar and the public who do not smoke. Did I read your post correctly that you are a smoker?
That’s correct, I do smoke. unfortunately. It’s about the only thing I can’t kick.
There’s where you and I differ. I feel that there’s a market for smoking and non smoking bars. Again, we don’t want anyone around them but go ahead . “Smoke up” I have long felt this is our country’s greatest hypocrisy.
I’m thinking you would get along well with a friend of mine. He maintains an employers first duty is to his employees. And I told him I agree but is an employer allowed to make money? what, 5 percent? 15? 25? 50? If we truly do believe in a Democratic society don’t we believe people should be allowed to profit? Aren’t they the people that put up the capital to get the business going and therefore NEED employees? If your going to tell him he’s only allowed to make a few percentage points then he’ll probably take his idea and his money elsewhere. And perhaps you blame him but I don’t. If it’s gonna be share and share a like then let’s put the cards on the table people. I can’t wait to see George Clooney working as a bus driver. he’d make that sacrifice right? Wouldn’t he? …Right…. Jet setting around the world telling us all how terrible we are. he’d give that up in a heart beat.
I guess your question about an employer’s right to make a buck could be applied to the asbestos industry which made many bucks, but at the expense of the asbestos workers. I agree with your friend that an employers first duty is to provide his employees with a healthy work environment. An employer has no right to sacrifice their health for the benefit of his profit margin.
That’s kind of offensive. No one said anything about poor working conditions. Is that how you spin my question to others?
You need a specific hypothetical?
It’s a good company. The working .conditions are the safest in the country. How much?
Buzzkill.
While in a ‘Vapor Lounge’ at college, I got lost once in the ‘climate control’ track on Firesign Theater’s “How Can You Be in Two Places at Once When You’re Not Anywhere at All.”
I still have flashbacks.
Everything you know is wrong.
Another great one!
I guess the rumors about a Rolling Stones jam session there are false.
Take the business contract from them and give it so someone else.
every other health provider engages in upselling.
these dispensaries should not be treated differently.
I think given the widespread addiction to painkillers (oxi’s, methadone, percocet) in Maine that we should take a broader look at what’s considered “medically necessary”.
People are going to abuse the “medical pot” no way!! That could never happen. Cue the DEA and shut em all down and prosecute every one of the drug dealers.
Either make alcohol and tobacco illegal, or legalize marijuana. The only one of the three that I have used in the last 20 years is alcohol. It’s perfectly legal, and yet it’s the most dangerous of them all. If marijuana was legalized and taxed, the state wouldn’t have a tenth of the budget problems we are dealing with today.
Your comment on the tax benefit…. prove it. I don’t believe that for a moment. I don’t think you understand how much money it takes to run a government and how much would actually be taken in by a tax. it wouldn’t begin to touch the problem. DO THE RESEARCH and do it somewhere besides a source that NORML backs It does however sound like something that someone pushing for legalization would spew.
You want it legalized????? I don’t. But You should at least have the integrity to back your opinion based on what your true motives are. End our tax problems???? that’s laughable.
Look at the taxes that are on beer and cigarettes, where does all that money go? Taxing weed won’t help the state’s budget. But it will help create bigger government.
End our tax problems???? that’s laughable.Commonsenseaintsocommon,Everything that you make illegal creates another source of crime and the cost of trying to stop it.Take a look at prohibition, and the social costs, and now look at the amount of taxes the government gets off the alcohol industry. The drug war has been a very expensive business. Legalizing them would cut the cost of fighting against it and put more tax dollars into the government to cover other things. You are never going to stop people from using mood enhancing drugs.Now making it illegal to sell to kids I approve off because kids can get addicted far faster than adults. By the way most of the basic drugs were legal and used for decades giving little problem to society, and have become both stronger and more costly to stop since we made them illegal. You need to study a lot more real history before you spout off like this.And I study history not take anybody’s word for my facts. Real history is a lot more fascinating than the watered down white wash they teach in school, where they still even teach history.
Ya now what? You have your opinion. Fortunately, you are part of rather small minority.
Commonsenseaintsocommon,My opinion is a minority opinion? What do you base that one, as more and more states move to making marijuana legal medically? Second is what the majority believe more right than what the minority believe? Often the majority is proven to be wrong. The majority of adult Germans thought that Hitler would lead Germany to greatness. Boy were they wrong, he led it to near destruction.The important thing is our opinion based on just what we want to believe or are there any facts to justify our opinion.Also we know most Americans have almost no knowledge of history, nor ever study it once they leave school. I study it all my life because as I say the real history, even the bad parts, is far more fascinating than the water downed version in school.
We’re not talking about medicinal. We’re talking about recreational use and MISUSE as a medication.
Do you have any idea how crazy people that invoke names like Hitler in discussions like this look?
I’ll keep saying it. If Recreational use is that important,you might wanna examine why.
No the article is not talking about recreational use, it is talking about medical use. You are the one who wants to keep the subject on recreational use, misdirection on your part.
As for Hitler, I was only showing that popular opinion can be dead wrong, as can unpopular opinion.So what the major thinks is right may not be right at all. I fail to see how that is hard to understand.
Recreational use is another matter, however people have always used things as mood enhancers, that is what most people use alcohol for, they mostly use it to get a buzz on, regardless of what they claim to be using it for. Walk into any bar and you will see that quite plainly. go to any so called social even, even office parties. Now we might ask people why they constantly feel the need for mood enhancers, but we will not.Why because we might have to admit something is basically wrong in our society when most people are constantly drugging themselves up to adjust their mood?
As I pointed out I don’t use alcohol at all though I did as a young man, don’t use tobacco, though for two years I was up to two packs a day, and I don’t use recreational drugs of any kind. Can you say as much? You have admitted that you can’t stop smoking and you know that it may kill you or cause you health problems.So perhaps you should ask yourself why, why do you keep doing something that is harmful to you and any around you when you do smoke?
That might be far more useful than keeping this argument going? Or do you just always have to have the last word.
Fortunately, liberty will most often triumph over tyranny given enough time, and the time of your control-freak approach to recreational drugs in our society is slowly drawing to a close.
Your missing the point, if it were recreational for everyone l wouldn’t have an issue with it. Control Freak? Hey, whatever you need to justify you view.
Drugs, alcohol, cigarettes? Little upside, lotta downside. Cigarettes are their own category,, a cultural problem.. The wine and beer companies can pay for all the studies they want but there really is no upside to drinking. Any anti-oxidants or whatever other silly element they claim makes it beneficial are a joke. You can get those things from other sources. DRUGS??? Drugs are about changing our reality. Many times that reality becomes more appealing then the real world so we chose that as our reality. When that happens problems follow. I’d rather not open the floodgates. They’re open wide enough as it is.
keep it ilegal, why would you want to close the black market on it. I m sure that the pot farmers that have been farming for YEARS are just as happy as you. They dont have to pay taxes on the income that they support their family with. I support local pot on the black market. i know who my herbs come from. I dont need another pharmaceutical company telling me how to injest my herbs! I dont want my pot farming buddies to fund this cRoOkEd government you seem to be impressed by.
We have your email address and ip now and were coming for you and your buddies.
It’s a illegal drug under federal law and wasn’t included in the study.
Do I WANT it legalized? I’m ambivalent. Current laws are inconsistent. If tobacco and alcohol are legal, then marijuana should be also. If you don’t want to legalize marijuana, then make tobacco and alcohol illegal also. I’ll be OK with either one. But to insist that marijuana is BAD while at the same time saying that alcohol and tobacco are FINE is absurd.
Some data for you:
Maine tax collected per pack of cigarettes sold = $2.00
http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets/pdf/0097.pdf
Maine tax collected for alcohol — $5.21/gal for spirits, $0.60/gal for wine, $0.35/gal for beer. http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/245.html
Now the hard part. Finding a relatively neutral source for data on marijuana consumption is no easy task. There is what appears to be a reliable estimate of something like 24 million pounds per year imported, cited in a not-too neutral report from a pot-legalization group. Their article’s intent is to establish that it costs too much to interdict and interdiction is not effective, so the logical conclusion would be that they would tend to inflate the number to better support their contention. Their source is a “Library of Congress report”, which means only that someone had it published somewhere, and their method of calculating the 24 million pounds is questionable. However, the report and calculation completely ignores home-grown marijuana, because they are only looking at what is confiscated as it enters the country. With a little poetic license, since I don’t have access to any big money research grants, I’ll assume that the 24 million pounds is a reasonably accurate estimate of the annual consumption of marijuana in the US.
This site – http://www.opposingviews.com/arguments/medical-excuse-marijuana-is-a-trojan-horse – states:
“The typical marijuana cigarette (joint) weighs a gram. There are 28.35 grams in an ounce. Thus 1 ounce of pot will make approximately 28.35 joints. There are 16 ounces in a pound – thus 1pound of marijuana is approximately 454 joints (16 x 28.35).”
Continuing with the math, 24 million pounds equals 10,896,000,000 joints. In packs of 20, that makes 544,800,000. If they were taxed at two bucks a pack, that’s well over a billion dollars per year. I’m looking at this as a state-level tax, not federal. So if Maine smokers use 1/100 of the supply, that’s a hundred million clams into the till. Personally, I’d probably charge more than two bucks a pack, but they won’t let me make the laws. Right now LePage is looking to close a budget gap of around 500 million per year, depending on who you listen to. A couple hundred million from a pot tax might not cover the whole thing, but it sure would make a heck of a start. Maybe I’m not right on the money with my off-the-cuff number in my earlier post, but you have to admit that a pot tax would be far from insignificant.
Gotta be honest, I’m only to aware of the cost. And that varies greatly depending on location, quality and availability. Not to mention that the guy at the top didn’t pay anywhere near 280.00 per ounce.Of course it would bring in significant revenue. Certainly not enough to really matter but the fact is it’s more about the damage that weed does to our society. I’d hate to see that multiply. It would not do near enough good to justify.
That’s right and send the bill to Roger. He’s in “busniess”.
Too bad they even have the dispensary. The rest is a little attempt to socialize and normalize marijuana. Ignorant scum. They have no idea. Or they do and they just don’t care.
Alcohol use and abuse is worse than marijuana abuse. At best, I’ll concede they are equally as bad. So, I guess, we will be making alcohol illegal then.
I think the affects of alcohol abuse are easily Identified in our society, MOST of the time. Whereas Addiction to weed is more subtle, more about affecting quality of life in the long run.
Glad we agree though. Killing brain cells drinking doesn’t seem very appealing.
I use Marijuana every day for pain. I guess you are calling me ignorant scum? Seems to me, you would be the ” ignorant ” one here. Marijuana has no bad side effects like all the pain pills I use to take. NOBODY has ever died from Marijuana use like people who use alcohol and tobacco have, yet they are both legal. I personally don’t think a vapor lounge is a good idea, but medical Marijuana is a life saver for me !!
Chronic pain? that’s a valid use I suppose. If your involved with the medicinal community then you have probably witnessed others making claims that you as a consumer knew to be false. And that is my point.
By the way, the side effect of getting high, is that your stoned and certainly not as sharp as otherwise. But that feeds into the REAL reason most want to use it anyway. To dull the EMOTIONAL PAIN as much as any physical. Weed, not a good treatment for MOST psychiatric Dx. by the way. My personal life experience. one benefit, 18 side effects. No my hair isn’t falling out, the issues are much more subtle and possibly destructive for many.
Commonsenseaintsocommon
Well it is proven by doctors that marijuana has medical benefits, so you may be the ignorant one. As far as having these other amenities, well the state has every right to set limits.
Meanwhile the gateway drugs that lead kids into harder drugs are tobacco and alcohol. Both of them have proven health hazards as well. So if you want to limit drug use among the young, then send people who provide them with alcohol and tobacco to prison as we should be doing. However the companies, that make the money off off your kids addiction, won’t allow that and bribe your politicians to make sure that is not done.
And no I don’t use tobacco, alcohol or grass nor any other recreational drug. Now I do use a lot of Lipton Tea.
If you do a little research you’ll find that yes, there are valid medicinal uses but a shoulder pain, or depression, or a sore foot or any number of other wacky notions the local burnout tries to get by his doctor have not been proven and in fact after 30 years of personal experience I can tell you with no reservation that they are not of medical benefit in most of those areas. Do we really want more people barely able to get out of their own way let alone hold down a job . More teens are going into treatment for Marijuana then any other drug. Wonder why that is? Because it’s not legal? I don’t think so.
You say thirty years of person experience? In what? I prefer to listen to doctors about medical use of marijuana.
As I already said I have no problem with making it illegal to supply kids with it, just as I am for enforcement of laws making it illegal to serve alcohol and sell tobacco to kids. In fact I would make it just as serious to sell alcohol and tobacco to kids as any other drug, as these are the actual gateway drugs for kids. Show me a kid that uses alcohol or tobacco and I will show you a kid likely to use any other illegal drug. Both of them are addictive and both of them are illegal for kids to use.
Strangely we still don’t treat the fact of kids using them seriously, many adults think of them as a rite of passage and that is the problem. Keep a kid from using alcohol and tobacco until at least 18, an that person is far less likely to have an addiction for them. As I said kids and teenagers get addicted far faster than adults. I used my first tobacco at 18 and my first alcohol at age 20, and later was able to walk away from both.
And then it will be some other drug that we’re over reacting about, then another, and another. Wake up. If weed is that important then you may want to examine WHY??
Sounds like you are jumping to conclusions to me to justify your opinion. As I stated weed has proven medical uses.
We have filled our prisons mostly with drug users. It cannot and does not deter drug use any more than prohibition would stop alcohol use, in fact it increased the average use of alcohol, making it in among people that might not otherwise have tried it. Again make something illegal and you have created crime and taken on then the cost of fighting it and building expensive prisons to put people in. Now violent people should be behind bars, and serious financial crime should be behind bars.
But what is the point of putting users behind bars when few prisons have programs to get people off drugs. We could even then get rid of the private prisons which are mostly useless anyway, but costing the taxpayers money, more money than the government prisons.
ONE MORE TIME STUD. I have no issue with proven valid medical uses. My issue is with recreational use. If we agree then what is your problem?????????????????? Although your loathe to admit this, it IS about recreational use. If not, then what exactly are you disagreeing with me on???????????
You SAY it’s not about recreational use and then you go off on a tangent about our prisons being full. THIS IS ABOUT RECREATIONAL USE FOR YOU. Just like all the other NORML people I encounter, YOU LIE THROUGH YOUR TEETH. Or perhaps you really are in denial.
One more time. If legalizing weed is so important ask yourself why???? If you didn’t get high why would you care???????
GROW UP
TERM LIMITS.
WHY DO YOU KEEP REPEATING THAT IT DOES HAVE MEDICAL USES?????? Of course it does, I’ve had to agree with you a half dozen times and yet for some reason you still feel threatened by my opinion.
I suspect I am much more aware of what marijuana is capable of then you. Both medicinally and recreationally. Stop pretending your a humanitarian. If you don’t get high then how can you judge the societal impact it has?? The underground of burnout parents that sit around getting baked while the baby sits in a dirty diaper might disagree with your view. And trust me, there are perhaps tens of thousands of those children in our country.
Know what your talking about and stop using vague ideas, such as the prisons are over crowded. Really???? That reason all by itself should be enough to rationalize legalizing it??????????????????????
WELL HEY. let’s just legalize everything and live in an anarchy, everyone can just kill each other off. Wouldn’t be that much of a loss at this point.
One last though, do ya understand that if drugs are legal they still won’t be free??? Crime w;ill still occur BECAUSE OF DRUGS INCLUDING WEED.
Ok dispensery, create a separate business entity and sell coffee through that business.
That might solve your problem with the state.
These dispensaries are modeled after the California dispensaries.. They are modeled after the Amsterdam coffee houses.. If Maine didn’t want the dispensaries to be run like they do in California then they should of given the contracts to local people instead of Californians..
Is it ok to bring your guitar?
That is what they get for allowing it in the first place.
It is people like this who will make it hard for the next guy who wants to become a professional drug dealer. Makes me wounder why you just can’t get THC in a pill form and that would end this B.S. ……..Whats that you say, you can?…….hhhmmmm
Legalize it…let them stay home…and then who cares, at that point they are just useless stoners hanging out at home…really a non-issue to society at large
Is anyone else aware out of staters look at Maine people as being ‘meek’ . The out of staters that are opening up all these POT places in our state are walking right over Maine State officials and Maine people and are going to do what they want in this State regardless of state laws. Wake up, have some pride in our state.
Seems like this would be no different than getting a cup of coffee at the doctors office while waiting for your appointment.
It’s a illegal drug under federal law and wasn’t included in the study. Link is broken by the way.
Is it the “state” that is unhappy about this? Or is it John Thiele who represents the DHHS who is unhappy? Does he speak for all the citizens of Maine?
Just send the Federal Marshals by once a month and bust them. Remember State law does not precede federal law. Wonder why walmart doesn’t sell it in their drug dispensarys?
It’s a illegal drug under federal law and wasn’t included in the study.
I have to say, I agree.