POT CENTER WINS JOINT COMMITTEE APPROVAL

Meeting jointly, two state legislative committees voted 15-1 Wednesday in
favor of a bill to establish a pilot marijuana distribution center for
medical patients.

Such a center could be located in Sagadahoc or Cumberland counties,
according to a medical marijuana advocate.

The vote by the Health and Human Services and Criminal Justice committees
sends the bill first to the Senate, then the House for debate.

Ten committee members were absent from the decision, but have 24 hours to
call in their vote.

Dr. Dora Anne Mills, director of the state Bureau of Health, opposed the
bill. She noted within the next four weeks, a U.S. Supreme Court decision
is expected on a federal challenge to the medical marijuana distribution
system in California, on which in part Maine based its proposal.

"This system tries to distribute an illegal substance," Mills said. "It
makes sense to wait for Supreme Court guidance. I think we could get into a
lot of legal entanglements."

Mills also said the 1999 referendum was about legalizing small amounts of
marijuana for personal use by patients, who could grow it, but said nothing
about a distribution system sanctioned by the state.

She also questioned marijuana's health benefits for a wide range of
disorders. "It has been shown to be efficacious with certain types of
disorders," Mills said, noting that smoking marijuana as a medicine carries
health risks such as lung damage. Patches, similar to those used to quit
tobacco, have been used successfully in Europe, she said.

"There is a very limited number of patients for whom smoking marijuana is
effective," Mills said.

The measure before the Legislature would create a single marijuana
distribution center for patients with cancer, AIDS, glaucoma, epilepsy,
multiple sclerosis and other diseases. Patients authorized by their
physicians to receive medical marijuana from the center would receive photo
registration cards identifying them as participants.

"Marijuana is truly a medicine," said Elizabeth Beane of Mainers for
Medical Rights. The group advocates using marijuana to treat patients
suffering from nausea, vomiting and wasting syndrome from cancer
chemotherapy or AIDS; muscle spasms from multiple sclerosis or other
spasticity disorders; and heightened eye pressure as a result of glaucoma;
as well as seizure disorders such as epilepsy.

Beane said a pilot distribution center could be established in about six
months if the Legislature approves the bill and the governor signs it.

The statewide distribution point would be set up with a community oversight
board and a board of directors, be regulated by law enforcement, and
evaluated after 18 months by the Maine Legislature.

Beane said it probably would be located in an area with good law
enforcement support for the proposal, such as Sagadahoc or Cumberland
counties or Hampden near Bangor. Sheriffs Mark Dion of Cumberland County
and Mark Westrum in Sagadahoc both were members of the Attorney General's
Task Force on Medical Marijuana that developed the recommendation, Beane said.

"The distribution centers in California that operate without federal
intervention have local support by law enforcement," Beane said. She said
the distribution center would be a nonprofit entity run by patients.

Mills, however, said such a statewide center likely would create law
enforcement problems. "When you have an illegal substance grown and
distributed, you have a lot more potential for illegal activity with people
going in and out of a warehouse," she said. "Having people grow small
amounts at home would be much easier to enforce."

The center likely would be self-sustaining by growing its own marijuana.
"Different strains work better with different illnesses," Beane said. THC,
the active ingredient in cannabis, controls nausea and vomiting; CBD,
another ingredient, helps control muscle spasms. "Someone with multiple
sclerosis doesn't need loads of THC," Beane explained.

"We want to control the quality and quantity for patients," she went on.
The center would be able to charge patients for the product.

The Maine Marijuana Act of 1998, approved by a wide margin in a 1999
referendum, allows medical patients to use marijuana as part of their
treatment when needed. Implementing the law, however, proved a problem
because marijuana is an illegal drug.

The state attorney general formed a 29-member task force made up of law
enforcement, legislators, patients and patient advocates to recommend a
system to implement the law and provide access to marijuana for medical
purposes.

Eight other states have medical marijuana laws: California, Oregon,
Washington, Hawaii, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado and Nevada.