MARIJUANA BILL BEFORE LEGISLATURE

PORTLAND, Maine--A bill before the Legislature would have the state
distribute confiscated marijuana plants to people who are allowed to use it
for medical reasons.

The law is meant to help people who have trouble getting marijuana to help
treat their medical conditions, a practice that Maine voters approved in
November.

But even the bill's sponsor doubts it will pass, as long as marijuana
possession remains illegal under federal law. "The federal government really
has to change its attitude about marijuana, it's got to allow research,"
Sen. Anne Rand, D-Portland, said Monday.

The bill calls for the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency to distribute the
marijuana and provides for a registry of patients allowed to use it.

Bryan Clark, 26, favors the law. He has been using marijuana to quell the
nausea that began after he got the AIDS virus at age 13 from the blood
clotting agent prescribed for his hemophilia.

His doctor has written a letter saying Clark meets the requirements of the
state law. But federal anti-marijuana laws keep Clark from getting it by
prescription, and growing it at home is too expensive, he says -$500 for
lighting equipment and about $50 in electricity per month.

The only other option is buying it illegally, he says, which defeats the
purpose of the new state law. "You've got to do what you've got to do, and
that's the unfortunate thing about this," he said.

The Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee was scheduled to
discuss the bill further Thursday. Maine's attorney general hopes to form a
task force to study the question.

Marijuana is banned by the federal government, although voters in six states
have approved laws allowing the drug to be used for medical purposes.

The Maine law limits medical marijuana use to those who have nausea,
vomiting or wasting syndrome from AIDS; who are undergoing chemotherapy; who
have glaucoma; or who have chronic seizures or muscle spasms.

Patients must be under a physician's care and must discuss the use of
medical marijuana with the physician. Patients may have up to 1 1/4 ounce of
marijuana or six plants, no more than three of which may be flowering.