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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Maine Medical Marijuana Bill Gains Overwhelming Committee Support |
Current rating: 0 |
by Mainers for Medical Rights
(No verified email address)
Phone: Elizabeth Beane (207) 839-3359 |
04 May 2001
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PORTLAND, ME - May 2 - Today the Maine Joint Committees of Health and Human Services and Criminal Justice passed LD 611 by a 15-1 margin. Although several members were absent, the final vote is expected to remain overwhelmingly in favor. |
LD 611 will create a medical marijuana distribution center Pilot Project. The center will have a community oversight board, be regulated by law enforcement, and will be evaluated after 18 months by the Maine legislature.
Patients who receive medical marijuana from the center will receive registration cards identifying them as participating patients.
Advocates and members of the committee who supported the bill stated that the distribution center is the next step in implementing the will of the voters as expressed in the Referendum that Maine voters passed overwhelmingly in 1999.
"While the medical marijuana law made it legal for patients to possess and grow small amounts of medical marijuana for personal use, it did not address the issue of access. The distribution center will provide a safe and controlled system, eliminating the need for patients to go to the black market for their medicine," stated Elizabeth Beane of Mainers for Medical Rights. "There has also been some concern about informal networks of medical marijuana distribution springing up in Maine in the absence of a more regulated system. A state sanctioned center will be much easier for law enforcement to regulate and safer for patients."
The proposal to create the Pilot Project contained in LD 611 received support from a majority of the Attorney General’s Task Force members including law enforcement, legislators, patients and patient advocates.
The Health and Human Services and Criminal Justice Committees also voted unanimously to send a message to Maine’s Congressional Delegation urging them to support state efforts to make medical marijuana available to patients. |
See also:
http://www.mainers.org
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