Thursday, April 4, 2002

Just a few years ago, it would have been controversial. But now, medical marijuana is so routine, a law doubling the amount of the drug that patients may legally possess in Maine passed with hardly a notice.

Gov. Angus King, who initially opposed medical marijuana, quietly signed it on Monday.

"It has not been a huge issue," Tony Sprague, the governor's spokesman, said Wednesday.

Under the new law, patients with certain medical conditions can possess 2.5 ounces, rather than 1.25 ounces, of marijuana. However, they still are limited to six plants, three of which can be mature.

The bill was so ordinary, senators passed it by a voice vote, rather than a roll call.

Yet it is groundbreaking.

By passing the law, legislators in Maine became the first in the country to expand a medical marijuana law.

"It is indicative of the maturation of the issue," said Richard Schmitz, a legislative analyst with the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington, D.C.,-based organization that supports medical marijuana. "This is something that, say, five years ago, you would never expect the Maine Legislature to do, and you wouldn't expect Governor Angus King to sign this without fanfare."

In fact, legislators initially wanted to do more than increase the amount of marijuana users could possess. They wanted to figure out a way for the state to distribute the drug.

They decided not to go that far after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last May that a California distribution plan was illegal. But Maine lawmakers still wanted to allow medical users to have more than 1.25 ounces of the drug. So they passed the new law.

As recently as 1999, though, the Legislature was squeamish about allowing any medical marijuana use at all. It declined that year - and two years earlier - to pass a medical marijuana law.

In November 1999, voters did what lawmakers wouldn't, and passed, with a 62 percent majority, a law that lets patients who are certified to have particular conditions use, grow and possess small amounts of marijuana.

The law King signed on Monday increased the amount to 2.5 ounces.

Gina Palencar, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles-based Campaign for New Drug Policies, said Maine lawmakers were so low-key about the new measure, her organization - which helped get the question on the ballot here in 1999 - barely took notice of it.

"They really moved this forward on their own," she said.

Maine was the first eastern state to pass a medical marijuana law.

Now, however, legislatures in Vermont and Maryland are considering their own.

Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon and Washington also have laws that allow patients to use marijuana in limited circumstances.

The amount of marijuana patients may have varies by state. In Washington, patients may legally possess or cultivate up to a "60-day supply." In Colorado, they may have up to 2 ounces of marijuana and grow six plants. In Oregon, they may have up to 3 ounces of usable marijuana and grow up to seven plants - three mature.

Source: Bangor Daily News (ME)
Published: April 3, 2002
Copyright: 2002 Bangor Daily News Inc.
Contact: bdnmail@bangornews.infi.net
Website: http://www.bangornews.com/

The stacks of bills being sent to Gov. Angus King are growing as the Legislature works toward completion of the 2002 session.

Among those signed into law are measures dealing with Maine’s medical marijuana law, child safety in cars, and the rights of some felons recovering from substance abuse to receive public assistance.

One bill makes changes to a medical marijuana law approved by Maine voters in 1999. It increases the amount of usable marijuana a patient may possess from 1.25 ounces to 2.5 ounces.

It also clarifies legal protections for patients and caregivers.

“This is significant because it is the first time that a state legislature has voted to expand legal protections for medical users of marijuana,” said Richard Schmitz of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington.

Other states have sought to cut back protections and even undo voter-approved medical marijuana laws, Schmitz said. Maine is one of eight states with medical marijuana laws, according to the Washington-based group.

The governor signed a bill that will require children who weigh 40 to 80 pounds and are younger than 8 years old to be secured in booster seats. Boosters are designed to make children’s lap and shoulder belts fit better.

The bill also requires children under 12 or less than 100 pounds to sit in the rear seat of a car whenever possible.

Another bill signed by King provides that a person who is eligible to receive food stamps or to receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families may not be denied public assistance because the person has been convicted of a drug-related felony.