DISTRIBUTION WILL EASE FEAR AND PAIN

There is a bill before the Legislature that will ensure the security and
quality of medicine for people with specific debilitating illnesses.

LD 611 promotes a pilot program for distribution of medicinal marijuana in
Maine. This is the best way to ensure a safe and secure supply of the drug
mandated by voters in a landslide in 1998. A self-supporting system that
costs taxpayers nothing would be far better than the current system that
leaves patients with two choices -- grow their own (if they can) and hope
they live long enough to harvest, or use the black market.

Right now, someone in this state is suffering severe pain and nausea from
diseases such as cancer and AIDS that are mitigated by marijuana. Yet, they
are afraid to get it because it means dealing in the black market. Forcing
a sick and possibly elderly person to seek out that system is outrageous.

If LD 611 is passed, qualified patients would register for the program and
the system would be monitored closely by law enforcement. This will ensure
not only a safe way to procure the medicine, but will ensure its purity and
quality as well.

The legal system will make this program safe, and the program will help the
legal system because it will no longer be necessary to seek out and
prosecute those seriously ill individuals as criminals. Think of the time
and tax dollars this bill will save. Police officers will then be able to
spend their time in search of real criminals.

Roland Andrews Jr., Bridgton