NEXT ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA: HOW TO SET UP THE PROGRAM

Gov. Angus King is considering asking Attorney General Andrew
Ketterer to set up a task force to work out the details of the new
medical marijuana law enacted by Maine voters Tuesday.

The approval of Question 2 legalizes the use of small amounts of
marijuana by people suffering from illnesses such as AIDS and cancer.
But there are still many questions about how the program will work.
Proponents of the law have said they believe the governor or
Legislature should take a leadership role by appointing a task force
to set up the medical marijuana program.

"This law to me is really about the people of Maine giving law
enforcement and the Legislature permission to look at this issue and
come up with a solution," said Cumberland County Sheriff Mark Dion,
who supports the new law.

Dennis Bailey, the governor's spokesman, said King is leaning toward
asking Ketterer to step in because King thinks "it ought to be more of
an initiative from law enforcement and the medical community."

Ketterer said he has not yet talked to King about the issue, but "I'll
be happy to serve on any task force the governor thinks I can have
positive input into."

Ketterer added that he thinks the potential impact of the law is
"overrated" and won't have much effect on day-to-day law enforcement
operations. He also said he would not support any immediate effort to
overturn the law.

"From a law enforcement point of view, because I believe it's going to
have a negligible impact, it's not something I'm going to be
pursuing," he said. "I can live with that statute the way it's written."

If a task force is convened as the next step, it would address such
troublesome issues as physician liability. Will doctors be arrested
for giving their patients written permission to use the drug? Where
will patients get the drug? If a patient is stopped by police and
doesn't have a physician's letter in hand, will the patient be
arrested? "How long do these letters last?" Bailey said. "Are they
blanket get-out-of-jail-free cards that you use for the rest of your
life, or are they for a limited time only? I don't think anybody has a
clear understanding of how this thing is going to work."

There is no established blueprint for setting up a medical marijuana
program. But states that have implemented programs have faced similar
questions. And they have addressed those questions in a similar way --
by setting up a working group of legislators, physicians and law
enforcement officials to hammer out details and, when necessary,
compromise on the more controversial issues.

Alaska enacted a medical marijuana law last year, and it was
immediately challenged by a state legislator. But instead of scrapping
the law altogether, legislators got together with proponents of the
law and developed a mandatory registration system. Under that system,
patients who are accepted by the registry carry cards from the state
certifying that they need marijuana for medical reasons.

Oregon, which also enacted its law last year, has a voluntary
registration system. Although it's voluntary, patients who don't
register run the risk of being arrested and having to present their
case in court, says Gina Pesulima of Americans for Medical Rights.
Patients go through a rigorous screening process. The state health
department reviews their medical records and consults with their
doctors before giving them a registration card.

Washington also enacted a medical marijuana law last year, but instead
of a registry system the state requires that a doctor's permission be
stated in the patient's medical record.

California, home of the controversial "cannabis clubs," this year put
together a task force appointed by the attorney general to deal with
some of the problems that have lingered since the state enacted its
medical marijuana law in 1996. The California Legislature considered
establishing a patient registry this year, but tabled the issue.

In all of these states, it is still up to the patients to come up with
their own marijuana. Oregon recently set up a licensing system in
which patients and their care-givers can receive credentials from the
state to grow small amounts of marijuana.

In some parts of California, such as Oakland and West Hollywood, the
clubs that grow marijuana are thriving and getting along fine with law
enforcement officials, though they are watched closely. In other parts
of the state, they have been closed down.

"The courts have been pingponging the issue back and forth as the
appeals go up higher about whether the clubs can exist and under what
conditions," said Rob Stewart of the Drug Policy Foundation in
Washington, D.C.

As an alternative to the clubs, California is considering distributing
marijuana seized in criminal cases. Some people have suggested the
same idea for Maine, but Ketterer said he would oppose such a move.

"I don't think the answer to this is the government distribution of
marijuana," he said.

Maine's law won't take effect for another 60 days, but it may be much
longer than that before all the bugs are worked out.

"I think this is going to be a substantive public policy issue, and
we're going to have to do the best we can in the interim," Dion said.
"If cases come before the police, we're going to have to bring those
facts forward and have some assessments made by prosecutors."

Based on other states' experiences, patients who need medical
marijuana probably won't have to worry about being prosecuted unless
they try to take advantage of the new law.

"Obviously, if somebody does have a legitimate doctor's recommendation
but they're growing a whole room full of plants, there's something
going on there," Pesulima said. "And the law doesn't provide
protection for that."