SHERIFFS AT ODDS OVER MEDICAL MARIJUANA

A Useful Painkiller, Or Reefer Madness?

Just days after Cumberland County Sheriff Mark Dion announced that
marijuana should be legalized for medicinal purposes, the state's
other 15 sheriffs have denounced the drug as harmful and deservedly
prohibited. I think once you open the door to something like this,
youire opening the floodgates to all kinds of other issues, said
Sagahadoc County Sheriff Mark Westrum, president of the state sheriffs
association. We have a hard enough time trying to control alcohol.
The issue will be decided Nov. 2 when Maine voters will be faced with
ballot Question 2 - Do you want to allow patients with specific
illnesses to grow and use small amounts of marijuana for treatment, as
long as such use is approved by a doctor? Dion announced over the
weekend that he supports a Yesi vote because of the painkilling
benefits marijuana would bring to the terminally ill. Should we stand
in the way of possible relief to those who are suffering? asked Dion.
Suffering is not a theory.

It's very much a reality for people in this state.

I really think that law enforcement is sophisticated enough to deal
with that issue. The list of qualifying ispecific illnesses includes
persistent nausea, vomiting, glaucoma, seizures or muscle spasms from
chronic diseases such as epilepsy or multiple sclerosis, and loss of
appetite from AIDS or cancer. Maybe I've been influenced because Iive
seen people die from AIDS, said Dion. I've seen the influence of
terminal illness on the victims and their families. Westrum said that
he and the other anti-medical-marijuana sheriffs sympathize with
people that are sick, but that there are legal drugs that can help
the gravely ill. He said the prescription drug Marinol contains THC,
or tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in marijuana. Westrum
said it would be nearly impossible to enforce marijuana laws if the
drug is legalized for some users.

With doctor confidentiality laws, Westrum said he wouldnit be able to
distinguish between legal and illegal growers. From an enforcement
standpoint, it would be a nightmare trying to figure this out, said
Westrum.

Dion acknowledged that the issue is complex, but it shouldnit be
oversimplified by keeping all marijuana use illegal. Life isn't about
black and white, he said. It's about managing all the gray.