MAN GETS $200 FINE FOR GROWING MEDICAL MARIJUANA

FARMINGTON - A New Vineyard man who said he used marijuana to ease the
painful symptoms of muscular dystrophy pleaded no contest and was fined
$200 in Franklin County Superior Court.

Leonard Ellis, 63, was arrested last summer after officers seized 83
marijuana plants, along with some processed marijuana, from his property.

Ellis, who smokes about five marijuana cigarettes a day, admitted he had
more marijuana than allowed under Maine's medical marijuana law. He said he
planted a great deal of marijuana because he wanted to store some of it for
the day when he was too sick to grow it. He said it's too expensive to buy.

More than 60 percent of Maine voters approved the medical marijuana
initiative, which was designed to provide people with specific chronic
illnesses such as AIDS and cancer some relief from their pain.

Justice Kirk Studstrup acknowledged that a majority of Mainers voted for
the medical marijuana law.

"But (I doubt) whether 60 percent of the voters would have voted in favor
of it if there had been no limit on the amount a person can have," the
judge said Thursday at the sentencing.

The Medicinal Marijuana Act allows patients suffering from certain diseases
to possess six plants, of which no more than three may be mature, flowering
plants. Patients may also have 1 ounce of harvested marijuana, if patients
have a doctor's note recommending its use.

In addition to 83 plants, police said they found three coffee cans of
harvested marijuana, 43 cigarettes, a Baggie and a glass container at
Ellis' home.

Ellis' lawyer, David Sanders of Livermore Falls, said the statute is a
"cruel hoax" because it is impossible for someone following the guidelines
to have enough supply on hand for a patient like Ellis.

Ellis, who lives on Social Security, told Studstrup he knows he broke the
law but said he used the marijuana for medical purposes.

"When I use pot, it's wonderful to be able to wake up in the morning and
feel refreshed from a good night's sleep and to be able to function," he said.

But Assistant District Attorney Andrew Robinson reminded Studstrup that
witnesses last week testified that they had seen Ellis smoking pot at
social gatherings and at card games.

After his arrest, Ellis switched to traditional painkillers but he is now
growing marijuana again.

By pleading no contest, he did not admit to the misdemeanor cultivation
charge but he agreed not to fight it. A no contest plea is treated the same
way as a guilty plea.