NEIGHBORS OF POTENTIAL CLINIC SITE STAGE PROTEST

Police chief says marijuana dispensary would not improve quality of
life in South End neighborhood

WATERVILLE -- Next-door neighbors of a former KFC marched on Water
Street Thursday, protesting a proposal to open a medical marijuana
dispensary there.

Beverly and Andrew Busque walked in front of the former fast-food
restaurant for about three hours with signs that said "no marijuana
here." The demonstration is a sight, they say, Waterville residents
will have to get used to.

While some people driving by honked their horns and gave them the
thumbs-up, Beverly Busque said, others let the couple know they didn't
agree with their message.

"I had a lot of people drive by and tell me what to go do with
myself," Busque said.

The KFC building is one of two sites in central Maine that could house
a medical marijuana dispensary as early as this fall. The Northeast
Patients Group, which was selected by the state to run the one
dispensary allowed in the region, is proposing to open the clinic
either there or on Middle Street in Augusta.

The group has said that it would prefer the Augusta site, but that it
might not be able to meet that city's zoning restrictions.

If it were up to Waterville Police Chief Joseph Massey, the group
would go with Augusta.

"I personally would like to see it in another community," Massey said
Thursday.

Massey said he understands the concerns of the Busques -- that the
dispensary could attract more crime to an area that's already
problematic for police.

Beverly Busque said that she voted in favor of the law allowing
medical marijuana dispensaries in the state, but that Waterville's
South End isn't the right place for one.

"I don't feel it should be put in a residential, high-crime area," she
said.

Massey said that he was told the methadone clinic on Airport Road
wouldn't cause any problems for police, but that officers have had to
respond to a number of incidents there, including people operating
under the influence of drugs, fights and children left in cars
unattended. He suspects a marijuana dispensary could create an
increase in similar crimes.

Massey thinks the dispensary will bring in people from outside
Waterville. That works against the ongoing effort to clean up the
area, he said.

"Certainly, over the last decade, the residents in the South End,
working with police, have made some in-roads to improve the quality of
life down there," Massey said. "I really think a marijuana dispensary
is not conducive to that effort."

Beverly Busque, who's lived at 23 Water St. for 20 years, said she
thinks medical marijuana should be dispensed by a hospital or
pharmacy, like other prescription drugs.

"This just is not the place for it," she said.

And she wants everyone to know how she feels.

"I'll be out here every day," she said.